The Pirate King in the Past
by Usernametouse
Summary: When the 23 year old Monkey D. Luffy wakes up in Foosha, he meets a 5 year old boy by the same name. Though blind to why he’s been thrown 18 years into the past, he’s still got to keep on living as an unknown with the power of the Pirate King if he’s ever gonna’ see his crew again.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

All around him, the world spun. He was dizzy and the only thing he could make out were the dark greens and browns of what he suspected were trees. Problem was, he didn't get much time to think on what was occurring or why he was so lightheaded because after only a few moments of frantically trying and failing to both run in a straight line and get a grip on reality, the world took a nose dive and faded around him. The next thing he knew, all had once again turned to darkness.

" _Oi_ ," a voice called out. It sounded like a kid, but Luffy couldn't respond. After all, he could only just barely hear the voice even a little and all his other functions felt like they had been run through a trash compactor.

" _Oi_!" the voice repeated, a little louder this time. Now Luffy could feel someone beginning to shake him, but he still couldn't obtain the power to really move, much less properly react to the child. Finally, Luffy blinked a few times. It was a start.

" _OI_!" the kid shouted, shaking Luffy violently. His vision finally cleared and his body seemed to be functioning, at least in the most basic sense, again. He slowly sat up, rubbing his head to help ease the raging headache that had sprung up in the last few seconds.

"Oh, you woke up. That's good," Luffy turned slightly to find the source of the voice, and was greeted by the sight of a little kid, sitting cross-legged and staring intently at him, mostly with wonder but also a hint of annoyance. With messy black hair and big black eyes, the kid looked a bit similar to himself, if he were about twenty years younger. Luffy's half lidded eyes slowly opened and he swirled his head around unsteadily to take in his surroundings. He was in a forest and it seemed slightly familiar, but he couldn't quite place it exactly.

"Hey kid, do you know where we are?" Luffy questioned, his voice cracking at the words. It felt like he hadn't spoken for weeks and his voice was dry as sandpaper.

"You don't know where you are?" The kid asked incredulously, "But you're sitting here. That means you must've come here. Or are you just an idiot or something?"

"No I am not an idiot," Luffy huffed, slightly ticked off at the comment. Plenty of people had said the same thing, but at least most of them had some sort of brains. This, on the other hand, was a six year old. "I was just on my ship, then bam, I pass out and next thing I know I'm here, being called an idiot by you."

The kid blinked, then smiled, "Shishishishi, you're weird, old man."

"Oi, who are you calling an old man? I'm twenty-three!" Luffy sighed, "And you still haven't answered my question."

"Oh yeah, you're right outside Foosha Village, in the forest."

Luffy's eyes widened and he rushed over to the kid as fast as his aching limbs would take him. He grabbed the boy's shoulders and shook him as he spoke, or more accurately flipped out and the gibberish noises he made just happened to vaguely sound like words, "Wait what? No. Not possible. The one in East Blue? By Goa? Are you sure? No. It's impossible. No. Can't be. That's dumb. But, what? No. Are you completely positive?"

Now the kid, after getting over the initial shock of the shaking and the yelling, angrily shouted back, "Yeah, I'm sure! I'm not some idiot like you who doesn't remember where they are! I've lived here my whole life, I think I'd know if I was wrong." The kid crossed his arms and huffed.

Luffy let go of the kid and noticed his knuckles had turned white. Taking a deep breath, He looked into the boy's eyes. "Alright, alright, I'm sorry for not believing you. It's just that the last thing I remember, I was over on the other side of the ocean and I was confused, that's all. It's a long distance to travel without knowing you traveled it. So sorry again." The boy nodded slowly, his features softening. Luffy tried for a smile. "So kid, what's your name? And if you live over in Foosha, why are you out here in the forest? There's some dangerous animals out here for a squirt like you."

"Oh, my Gramps throws me out here whenever he's around, so I know I'm strong enough to handle myself. He said it was training so I'd become a strong marine like him, but I don't wanna' be a dumb ol' marine." The kid crossed his arms and puffed his cheeks "I'm gonna' be a pirate!"

Luffy quirked an eyebrow. "You know, I had a grandpa who used to do stuff like that to me too." Luffy chuckled to himself in remembrance, "He'd tie me to balloons and let them slowly pop while I was up in the air, and throw me in pits of crocodiles whenever he came over to see me, and he gave me these terrifying punches…" Luffy trailed off, for a moment, thinking about all the pain Garp had put him through in these woods for the sake of training. He glanced over and snapped back into reality upon seeing the little kid staring at him. "Good times. And kid, you still haven't told me your name."

"Right. Well, I'm Monkey D. Luffy!" The kid made a huge grin, pointing his thumb at himself proudly.

That caught Luffy off guard. Claiming to be the Pirate King was, well, really dumb. If the marines even heard a whig of someone even pretending to be himself, they could be looking at lifetime imprisonment.

Still, the kid was young and dumb, so Luffy decided to be calm about it. He looked intently at the kid, but he didn't really look like he was putting on an act. But maybe there were two people with Usopp's lying ability in this world. But what would the kid do if he found out that he was talking to the real Monkey D. Luffy? The thought made Luffy laugh inwardly.

Luffy shook his head. "No, really. What's your name? I'd like to know. I like you, kid, but I don't really like most liars."

This seemed to piss he kid off again. "I'm not lying, you idiot! Why would I lie about my own name?"

Trying to bust the lie, Luffy said, "Ok fine, your name is Monkey D. Luffy. So then who's your gramps? How's he doing?"

The kid seemed a bit confused as to what his grandpa had to do with anything, but complied in answering. "My gramps' name is Garp, but I don't really know how he is. He doesn't come by too much, and when he does, all he does is yell at me about how I'm gonna' be a great marine. It's stupid." The kid sighed and sat down, "And then he punches me all the time with his 'Fist of Love' for wanting to be a pirate, He's so mean..." The kid trailed off, looking slightly put out, but then brightened up a moment later. "But that's alright. I've got Makino! She's really nice and gives me food all the time! Shishsishishi!" The kid smiled brightly.

Luffy looked at the kid in shock. Whatever answer he expected, it was definitely not that. Luffy ended up just sitting there, floundering a bit. _How_? He kept repeating in his head.

The Pirate King pulled himself out of his thoughts and faced the smiling boy. "Hey, uh Luffy, how old are you?"

"Oh I'm six!" The kid lifted up four fingers as he said five. Luffy just smiled and ignored the opposing numbers.

"Great! That is- that is just great! What a fantastic age!" Luffy nodded as he spoke, more than strictly necessary. "Well Luffy, if that's true, I have, uh, I am, well, I have a theory. And it's very important that I tell you this theory, but you'll have to keep it a secret to everyone, even Makino. Do you understand?"

The boy tilted his head to the side, "What's a _theery_?"

"It's- it's a, um, it's like I guess that I thought of that I think is true."

"Oh, okay. I'll keep your _theery_ a secret."

Luffy nodded. "Okay, that's good, thank you. So I'm not sure how to say this, but I'm pretty sure I travelled back to seventeen years in the past. My name is Monkey D. Luffy and I believe you are a past version of me as a child. I know that's a lot to think about, but whether or not you choose to believe me, you cannot tell a soul about this. Do you understand?" Luffy paused, "Actually, I guess I was sure how to say that. Cool."

The boy sat there for a second with his face scrunched, pondering what Luffy had just claimed. After a moment, a wide grin crept onto the boy's face, "That's so awesome! I look so cool in the future! Are you, er, am I strong? Do I get to have awesome adventures? What do I do? Wait, don't answer that I want to find out for myself. But still, What are…"

As the younger Luffy rattled off question after question, the elder slowly stopped listening, caught up in his own thoughts of how what had happened was even possible. Not that he'd know, he was never very smart with ' _science_ ' and ' _technology_ ' and ' _most other things_.' Luffy then realized his counterpart was still rambling.

"-I stronger than Gramps? Am I-"

"Oi, Please stop asking questions. The only thing even mildly important now is that as of right now, I am twenty-three years old. Later, when we're all settled down, we can talk about some future stuff, all right?" The younger Luffy nodded, still showing off his huge grin, "Okay, good. Now, let's go back to the village and see Makino. I feel completely disgusting and need a bath, and you look like you could probably use one yourself. Does that sound alright with you?"

The younger Luffy nodded again. "This is so cool! I can't wait for you to meet Makino! She's so nice and cool, and she gives me all sorts of meat! She's gonna love you!"

The Pirate King just nodded along, not commenting on the fact that he already knew Makino.

"Well what are we waiting around here for? Let's go! Come on!" The younger shouted excitedly whilst tugging his older self's shirt.

"Sounds good to me. Let's ge-" Luffy was cut off as a sounding growl came barreling through the forest with the source steadily getting closer.

At the growl, the younger stiffened and panicked, "We've gotta' get outta here! The bear's coming! It's one of the strongest things in this forest! It can even fight with the tiger! It's definitely gonna kill us if we don't run! We got-"

"Stop." Luffy put a hand over the six year old's mouth and put a finger to his own mouth, grinning. "I am strong, Luffy. We are strong. You just have to trust me. Besides, you'd never outrun that thing. Nod if you understand, cause I want to remove my hand, but I don't want to hear your scaredy voice anymore." The younger Luffy nodded slowly, fear still evident in his big, black eyes. "Good." The older removed his hand from the boy's face and turned towards the giant black bear bear which was just coming into view from behind the thicket of trees.

The beast towered over the two Luffys in equal measures, though the pair's reactions differed greatly. The younger had fallen to the ground upon seeing the bear and had begun slowly crawling backwards in hopes of getting away unnoticed, while the older stood to face it, completely relaxed, though a slight frown tugged at the captain's lips.

"Oi, you stupid bear! What do you think you're doing, scaring Luffy like that?" the elder snapped, gesturing to the still cowering Luffy, "I have half a mind to beat the snot out of you right now just for that, but I'm tired so I'll let you off easy just this time. So? What are you waiting for, big guy? Come at me!"

The bear looked down at Luffy and snarled. It raised its paw, readying for an attack.

"Tut tut. Way too slow." The older Luffy shrugged, then glared at the bear and released a relatively weak blast of conqueror's haki, forcing the bear's eyes to roll back behind it's head as it limply fell to the side, unconscious. The elder didn't pay the bear much mind as he turned to his younger self, holding out a hand, "Come on, Luffy. Let's get out of here."

The younger simply stared dumbly, glancing at the bear and then at the man claiming to be his future self. Slowly, slouched face turned over to a huge smile as the boy jumped up onto his feet, his eyes having turned to stars from the sheer awesome that he had just witnessed. "That was amazing! How did you, I, do that?"

"Haki. It's pretty cool to know." The older smiled and pulled his younger self onto his back in a piggyback position. "So which way is Foosha?"

"There!" The boy said, pointing a little to the right. Diligently, Luffy turned that way and began walking straight.

For the next few minutes, the pair walked in silence, the older thinking about the insanity that had gone on that day and when the next meal was. Finally, he broke the silence, "Hey Luffy, you know, we should find a new name for me to go by. It would be pretty confusing to have people calling both of us Luffy."

"Yah I guess that makes sense. But what should we call you? Hmm…" the young Luffy thought about it for a moment, resting his hand against his chin. As he thought, his face slowly contorted to that of a constipated man. Oh, the pain of thinking.

"Don't hurt yourself, Luffy." The elder chuckled. "It's just a name. I'm sure you can think of a good one. Don't stress it."

"You say that, but I don't want myself to have a stupid idiot name. I want it to be really cool and stuff, but it's so hard to think of cool names cause Luffy's already taken."

The elder thought about that for a moment. He did have a point there. Luffy was a pretty cool name, and he couldn't just have people call him something dumb like Usopp. That would be a shame.

Out in Syrup Village, a young boy with a long nose sneezed. "Is someone making fun of my name? I, the great Captain Usopp, and my 8,000 followers love my cool name! Who would even think of making fun of it?"

The older Luffy smiled, "Hey Luffy, how does Delta sound to you? Is that a good enough name for your future self?"

Luffy looked down at his new idol in awe. "Wow, can I do everything in the future? Cause so far, I can take down bears without even touching them _and_ I can think of the best names in the world!" Young Luffy looked up into the sky. "I don't even know how you could be cooler. In the future, I'm pretty amazing."

"Well that's that problem settled. Luffy, I am no longer Luffy; I am Delta. That is me. I am as of now, your new older brother, Monkey D. Delta." Luffy affirmed, still walking.

"Alright, Delta!" Luffy grinned and jumped off Delta's back and began running ahead, "Last one to Makino's gets less meat than the other! Shishishishi!

"What? No! Get back here! I'm older so I need the meat! Do you even know where you're going? Hey!" Delta chased after Luffy, who was already slowing down from exhaustion. Let it be known that five year olds cannot run very far without getting tired.

' _Party's Bar._ ' Delta thought to himself. Night was now falling as the pair began their descent down the grassy hill towards the cozy wooden building. It looked closed for the night and all the lights were out, save one at the front door, though the silence was short lived as an excited Luffy ran into the bar yelling about meat and such.

Delta sauntered in after him, waiting near the door to be introduced to Makino.

Luffy had all but run into the green haired woman, wrapping his arms around her in a tight hug. "Hey Makino!" Luffy greeted happily.

Makino smiled, "Well hello Luffy. You seem pretty excited today. What's the occasion?"

"Oh right!" Luffy grabbed Makino's hand and walked her towards the front door. "Makino, meet Delta! He's my brother!"

Makino looked up from Luffy to see a fairly handsome smiling man walking towards her. He wore black pants and a red cardigan which had been left unbuttoned to expose his toned abs and large X shaped scar covering his chest. Over the cardigan he wore a black coat, reaching just above the floor with dark red trimmed edges. Underneath his left eye was a large scar, and atop the man's head was a worn straw hat with a red ribbon around it, covering most of his messy black hair. The hat actually looked strangely familiar, but she chose to ignore it for the time being.

Delta took her hand in his and shook it, "Hello Miss Makino. My name is Delta and as Luffy already mentioned, I am Luffy's older brother."

"What?" Makino's eyes widened slightly, and looked at him with a mix of surprise and skepticism. "I never heard about Luffy having a brother."

"Well that may be because I've been out at sea for the past seven years. Luffy had not even been born the last time I could have been able to be contacted. Plus, Garp has never met or heard of me. I was unknown to all besides our father, who I'm sure you know is a very secretive man." Delta smiled knowingly.

"Yah and Delta's really cool, Makino!" Luffy exclaimed, looking up at her, excitement evident in his eyes. "He took down this giant bear in the forest without even touching it! It was amazing!"

"That _is_ impressive, Luffy. Your brother seems very strong and I'm glad you like him." She smiled, picking up Luffy, "But right now you need a bath." She looked back at Delta, who noticed that behind her wonderful smile lay a small layer of doubt and a bit of distrust. It hurt Delta that she didn't trust him, but it made sense. Some random unknown claiming to be the secret brother of Luffy did seem a bit odd. ' _Maybe I should've thought of a better story. Well, what's done is done_.'

"But Makino," Luffy whined, still in her arms, "I want fooood!"

"You'll have dinner after your bath. Oh and Delta, you can use the baths too if you wish. Feel free to stay the night as well." Makino turned towards the stairs, Luffy moaning the whole time about how he needed his meat to be super strong.

Delta walked up the stairs shortly after them with a small sigh. He really didn't want to have to wait eleven whole years to see his nakama again. And even then, they won't be the same as he knew them. Even though he loved Foosha and Dadan and Makino and Ace- Ace. He had forgotten. Ace was on the island. Breathing. Alive. That cheered Delta up quite a bit. And if he couldn't find a way to go back to the future (which was probable, because he didn't have the faintest clue of where to start), then he was going to make this life different. He was already stronger and older and farther back in time than when he first became a pirate and already had an okay idea of what the future held. Yes, he wasn't just going to let life play out exactly that same way. 'Cause who wants to repeat what they've already done? That would just be super lame.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Luffy, please stop," Delta mumbled with an exasperated sigh, his head resting on the bar between his arms. "Luffy. Luffy, come on. Luffy, stop. This is too much. Luffy…"

"But what's wrong with poking?" Luffy asked, "Poking's never hurt anyone before."

' _Well, then tell that to CP9._ ' Delta thought, ' _They obviously didn't get the memo_.'

"And besides," Luffy continued, "This is your own fault, really."

"Please," Delta scoffed as he sat up. "I'm not irritated because I'm afraid of getting hurt. It's about you putting me through this mental torment with more obnoxiousity than I have ever remembered facing. You've been poking for five minutes. Five whole minutes. This," Delta gestured to the poking, "Takes actual effort to accomplish. You need to truly have the drive to be annoying if you poke someone for that long. That is true willpower." Delta looked off into the distance solemnly, "True, infuriating willpower."

It was ten minutes ago when the duo sat beside each other at the stools of Party's Bar in a calming hush when Luffy began spouting out questions ascertaining to future events. They'd just finished dinner a moment earlier, leaving Makino to tend to the comically large number of dishes the pair accumulated during the evening, much to Delta's unheard protests. Just as Makino disappeared behind the large wooden door leading to the kitchen, pile of dishes in tow, the utter downpour of inquiries came tumbling out of the young boy's mouth.

Some actually held some real value, but the vast majority of his questions seemed to be a bunch of six-year-old nonsense. Asking if people still pooped in the future was one of Delta's favorites from the latter category. But Delta was still adamant on keeping tight-lipped to any and all queries, important or no. This in turn lead to the aforementioned poking.

"Come on," Luffy whined, "Makino'll be back any minute now and then we'll have to be quiettt," Luffy puffed his cheeks and pouted, "And I thought you were cool. Maybe you are just some idiot…"

Now that seemed to get Delta's attention, "Hey! Like hell I'm an idiot!" He huffed, "Fine, just to show how cool I really am, I'll answer one question about anything future-y. But that's it. Got it?"

Instantly grinning, Luffy nodded happily, "Yep!"

"But that also means you'll have to stop poking me." Luffy nodded again, excited as ever, and quickly ceased with the poking. "Oh, and also you aren't allowed to poke at me ever again. Sound fair?"

"Mm! I can do that!" Luffy hopped up on his stool while his grin turned to a rather intense look directed at Delta. To finish the look, Luffy pointed at Delta rather intensely as well. "Because I only have one question, and you made me wait so long, I have to make this good. So I thought of the one thing I really wanted to know most, but you can't laugh at me, kay?"

"Alright, shoot." Delta looked at Luffy with half lidded eyes to hide the curiosity as to what his younger self would want to know about his own future.

"Well, what I want to know is," Luffy faltered slightly as he looked away nervously, "Do I get friends?"

Delta's eyes flit open. "What do you mean? Of course you get friends. Honestly, you get the most awesome friends in existence." He gently tugged on Luffy's chin, and forced the boy's head to face his own as he stared into the despondent kid's eyes, "Why would that be your question? I mean, it's obvious isn't it? We're pretty great, so by basic logic, we'd also have pretty great friends."

Luffy tried to look sullenly at the floor, but Delta's hand kept it firmly in place. "Well, I. er -I mean- I have Makino and Wood Slap and the people who sometimes come here and talk to me during lunch and stuff, but, well, I don't really have any real friends."

Delta'd almost forgotten the feeling of being without others considering how long ago it had since he was the age of Luffy, but when he heard the boy talking like that, it brought a rush of memories he really didn't want to handle right then.

Delta sternly said, "We, in the future, get the most precious friends I and you could ever ask for. Honestly, even though we're awesome and all, we really don't deserve them." He grinned, "I don't know why they put up with us if I'm telling the truth. I'm thinking about them right now and I miss the hell outta them. So shut up with this sadness and come here." Delta held his arms out in the 'come hug me, you look like you need it' sort of way, which Luffy happily accepted.

The back door creaked open, revealing a slightly wet Makino, whom the two chose to ignore in favor of keeping the wonderful hug they were sharing.

"Oh, did I miss something? I didn't think I was gone all that long," Makino smiled.

Delta was the first to respond, though the manly embrace held strong, "Ah, just a bit of brotherly bonding, you know how it is. Right Lu?" He was answered with a soft snore escaping the boy still wrapped tightly around him.

"Well it seems Luffy here had a quite a big day." Makino commented, "His room is the first door on the left, and yours would be the next door down. If you could bring Luffy up there, then you can get some rest yourself."

Delta smiled, "And again, thank you for letting me stay here Makino. I really don't mean to be a bother, I'll find a place to stay on my own soon enough."

"Oh don't worry yourself too much, Delta. Luffy seems to really like you, and any brother of Luffy is welcome to stay here." Makino smiled and walked off to the kitchen. ' _Oh Makino, still such a kind soul_.'

Delta climbed up the staircase to the upstairs, earning slight creeks with each step up until he reached Luffy's bed. There, he laid the boy down gingerly and tucked him in.

He tiptoed out of the room and gently closed the door behind him as to not wake Luffy.

Now, when Delta turned around, he did not expect to see much. And if he were to be expecting something, it'd probably be something like a wall, because that makes sense. Walls usually are on the sides of buildings, after all. Logic.

Now, what he was not expecting was for Makino, one of the sweetest people he'd ever known and the closest thing to a mother he'd ever had, to be standing right behind him, scowling and brandishing a particularly large butcher knife, with the edge (the sharp one) held very, very close to the rubber man's throat. No. On a list of things Delta was expecting, this was very near the bottom, hovering right below the egg man of Big Mom's crew crouching behind him, and just a little above Whitebeard in a dress. So yes, suffice it to say, seeing Makino like that was very surprising to say the least.

"Don't speak." Makino commanded coldly, "Come with me now. We're going downstairs. Wouldn't want to wake Luffy up, _your beloved little brother._ "

Delta gulped, "Alright, I am with you all the way. And I'll be quiet. You're right; we wouldn't want to wake Luffy." ' _Damn Makino can be scary. Wait, but aren't I supposed to be the strongest man alive? No, scratch that; it doesn't matter how strong you are, this Makino is a true terror only found in the lowest depths of hell._ '

Delta took the lead down the stairs with Makino trailing close behind, holding the knife steady against the time traveler's back.

No matter how scary Delta found Makino to be, he knew he could not lose his cool at a time like this. "Hey, can you not do that please? You're cutting my jacket with that scare tactic of yours. And see, I really like this jacket." In response, Makino pushed the knife into his back a little harder. Delta sighed. "Now I have to assume that you have a reason for sticking a knife on me, right? You don't really seem to be the type to do this just for the hell of it."

He took a seat at one of the tables and faced Makino, who stood opposite him, knife still raised in what was supposed to be a threatening manner. Delta continued, "So what would it be? Is this a questioning, or are you just gonna attempt a murder? Personally I-"

"Shut it." Makino commanded icily. "Who are you? Why are you here? What do you want with Luffy? He's just a simple boy who I promise has done nothing wrong. Just go. I don't know your reason for getting closer to Luffy, but I'll warn you, his Grandpa is the famous Garp the Fist, and I doubt he would take kindly to some pervert trying something on his only grandson."

Delta sat there for a moment, collecting his thoughts. Then something dawned on him, ' _Wait, did she just call me a pervert? Me? No, that's not right. I am definitely not a pervert. Maybe I just heard wrong. I should ask, just to make sure_.'

Delta tilted his head, looking quite puzzled. "Um, sorry, I'll get to all that other stuff in a sec, but did you just call me a pervert? Because I can assure you, I am no pervert." He nodded self-assuredly. Sure he knew quite a few perverts, there were three just on his crew, but he was fairly certain he was no pervert. But that just seemed to make Makino glare harder. "Okay then, w-well, I guess we can just go over the 'me not being a perv' thing later, alright?" Delta twiddled his thumbs and suddenly became very interested in the wall on the other side of the room.

Makino snarled, "Stop messing around with me. Do you think this is some sort of joke? And if you think I won't use this," She stabbed the knife around a little, "Then you'll be sorely mistaken. Now start talking."

Delta decided then and there he'd had just about enough of this side of Makino. It was too… unsettling. He stood up abruptly, grabbed the blade and crushed it within his hand, which he'd coated in a light layer of armament haki. Then he said, in the most serious tone he could pull off, "Makino, sorry, but you are the one that is mistaken. My name is Delta, and though you're right that I told a small lie about being Luffy's brother by blood, I still love the kid like he was one. Now I have no reason to explain why to you," His face softened slightly, "But I honestly mean Luffy no harm whatsoever. Please, I'm begging you; just give me a chance."

Makino just stared as he talked. She just didn't really know how to react. He didn't seem like a particularly bad guy, but maybe he was just a good liar, but then again, he snapped the steel knife like a twig and unless Luffy was lying, he knew how to use conqueror's haki, which meant he was definitely strong, which meant he could probably forcefully take Luffy pretty easily if he really wanted to so…

"And why should I trust anything you say?" Makino asked, some of her bravado from earlier fading, "I mean you could just be a criminal who happens to also be a good liar. The two do mix fairly well after all. How could you expect me to trust you?" She crossed her arms, still holding the snapped knife.

Delta thought about that for a moment, "Well you do have a point there, and you don't know me well enough to know I can't lie for crap, so I guess that wouldn't really work as an excuse. Hmm, it seems we are at a bit of an impasse. This sure is a toughie…" Delta trailed off, wracking his brain for a way to make Makino trust him other than telling the truth, though the very idea of Makino distrusting him left a sour taste in his mouth and almost made him compelled to tell her his secret.

"Well I have an idea," Makino said, smirking a little, "As you either already know or just learnt from me, Monkey D. Garp is Luffy's grandfather, and I trust him completely. He is also a pretty good judge of character. He will be coming to the island to check up on Luffy in one month, and when he does I will pass you off to him. Either way he decides concerning you, I will be on board. And during this next month, you are not allowed to leave the village or talk to Luffy without me present and without my express permission. Do we have a deal?"

"Deal." Delta stated simply, and then looked at her pleadingly, "And though you don't completely believe me, I need you to know this; I would put Luffy's life above mine any day of the week, no questions asked. And about the whole sleeping situation- am I still allowed to stay in the room you gave me in earlier? Or should I sleep outside?"

"No, sleep inside. I'll be able to keep a closer eye on you from inside the house." Makino answered, then added tentatively, "And I'd like you to know one thing."

"Hm?"

"I want to believe you. I really do. My gut says to, but I can't just put Luffy's life in possible danger from a gut feeling. And if you truly care for Luffy the way you say, you'll understand. I'm sorry." And with that, Makino set down the broken knife and walked upstairs, presumably to get some rest as well.

Delta's heart jumped. That was the Makino he knew.

Delta walked up to his room, tiptoed past Luffy's door, and dived into his borrowed bed.

With the day he'd been having, it was not hard for the future Pirate King, Codename: Delta to drift off to sleep.

-o0O0o-

Delta opened his eyes slowly and rubbed the morning gunk out of his eyes in a less than fluid motion. ' _So it looks like I'm still here_.' He thought, ' _Guess the 'I'm just having a very vivid dream' theory was wrong. Drat_.'

The Pirate King slowly forced himself out of his very comfortable bed and groggily swayed around, slowly progressing towards the door's general direction. When Delta finally passed the daily morning challenge of moving and got a grip on the door's handle, he very carefully opened it, not wanting to wake anyone who might still be sleeping, and made his way to the bathroom to freshen up.

"Oh yes, I sure am freshened," Delta said to himself as he walked out off from the bathroom and towards the downstairs. ' _Wait just a minute, Makino might be down there, and if she is, that could be awkward. I guess I'll have to go stealth.' Delta crept towards the stairs, making sure to be as silent as possible_.

He pushed himself against the wall to the right of the staircase, and carefully, oh so carefully peeked out, in order to search for any sign of the green haired woman. ' _Sneaky, sneaky, I got this, I got this, I got this, I got-'_

"Oh hey Delta!" Luffy laughed, "What are you doing?" The boy was just sitting there, staring right at him, from across the room.

' _Damn! Operation stealth is a no go! Abort! Abort!_ ' Delta jumped from his hiding spot and casually started walking towards Luffy, "Oh, nothing much, just coming down the stairs completely normal like. Yep, there were absolutely no hidden stealth tactics I was using that I learned from a real ninja. Nope. None of what I just said happened."

"You're weird." Was all Luffy said. His eyes then travelled over Delta's shoulders and he waved, "Oh hi Makino! Can you get me breakfast? I'm starving!"

Slowly, like in a horror movie, Delta looked over his shoulder, wide eyed, to see Makino walking towards the pair, smiling as usual. Delta gulped. As she passed by him towards Luffy, she whispered, giggling slightly, "Wow you really are a terrible liar. It almost makes me want to believe you."

"Wha- hey!" Delta huffed. Sure it's okay when he's the one pointing out his one teensy flaw, but when other people said it, it was just wrong.

He didn't get to voice his opinions on the matter, because Luffy began yelling about all the possible meats you could have for breakfast. It was a significantly larger assortment than the average person would classify as 'breakfast meat'.

After breakfast, which entailed some awkward small talk with Makino on Delta's part and quite a bit of food stealing, a rather mundane day began, mostly because for the whole day Makino watched Delta like a hawk and he didn't want to arouse any sort of suspicion on the first day of their little truce. For the most part Delta stayed in the bar, walking around and talking to any and all patrons, making idle chit chat as a ways to get over his boredom and for the side goal of having the people of Foosha to re-get to know him.

And though the day went by pretty smoothly, one pest known as Luffy kept trying to lead Delta away from Makino so that he could ask some more future questions, but every time in Luffy's twenty plus attempts at sneaking off with Delta, Makino always caught him red handed. And every time Luffy seemed completely dumbfounded as to how he'd been found out, even though they were in a single room with only one exit. If she hadn't caught them, Delta may have been a little worried for her health.

Luckily, she never seemed to blame Delta and his possible criminalistic motives on the escape attempts, which he was grateful for.

-o0O0o-

As night reared its head around once again, Delta lay back in his bed and smiled up at the ceiling. For him the day, though rather dull, was a nice change of pace for him.

As the Pirate King, everyone seemed to know his face, thus he didn't end up having many conversations with strangers due to every person's totally unreasonable fear of the title Pirate King.

~ _CRASH_ ~

A loud noise came from downstairs. Delta jumped out of his bed with a start and bounded for the door at lightning speeds, which in his case was actually quite literal. Something loud and probably bad had happened downstairs, and Delta was going to help in any way he could. Anything really to gain some good guy points with Makino. Not that that was the whole reason. Delta was a good person.

When he got downstairs though, he was greeted with a picture of some ugly ass man grinning madly at Makino while yelling in a disgustingly southern accent for her 'to give him all her cash or the boy get's it'. In one of is beefy arms, he held a revolver, which was being pointed at Luffy's head, who was being held tightly in the other meaty fist. One of the tables was broken, and shattered glass littered the floor, no doubt where the noise had come from earlier. Overall, it looked like a pretty basic mugging, though one thing about the whole scene was bugging Delta. He didn't remember this ever happening when he was a kid.

Then something clicked. The bear. In this world, he had attacked the bear, which had probably scared off this gross man in the last world.

And that brought on a whole slew of implications about Delta's time travel that he did not want to think about.

"Hey, the hell do you think you're doing?" Delta called out, nonchalantly walking down the stairs, "What you're doing right there is not very good thing to do, so I'm just going to have to ask you to leave."

Makino looked over at Delta, worry painted over her chocolate eyes, while the idiot with the gun just laughed. "Oh, is tha right? Well sorry, bu' why shuh I? 'Sides, once I ge' the cash, I migh' jus' take the kid. I kinda like 'im. He's quite a perty one, aint he?" He squeezed Luffy harder, probably to accentuate his point about the boy's prettiness, and Luffy was forced to cough from the increased pressure.

This didn't faze Delta, though. He turned to Makino and pointed at the man and said very sternly, "Makino, that is a pervert. See the difference between him and me? Pervert," he nodded to the man, "Not pervert," he pointed to himself. "Pervert- not pervert. I feel there is a very apparent difference."

"Are you serious?" Makino cried, close to tears, "He's going to kill Luffy and you're on about that? Really?"

"Oh what? No, don't worry, he's not gonna kill Luffy, promise, " Suddenly Delta was no longer standing by the stairs, but was on the other side of the room with the man on the ground, helpless under the weight of Delta's foot. The man's gun, now in Delta's hands, was placed firmly against the perv's sweaty forehead.

Instead of in the creep's arms, Luffy was sitting at a table next to Makino unharmed. After getting over the fear of dying he'd just experienced, which he did surprisingly quickly, the boy grinned with stars once again in his eyes. "SEE MAKINO?! HE'S AMAZING!"

Delta grinned up at him and then turned to Makino, "So what do you want me to do with this freak show?"

Makino, who was just getting over the shock of what had just occurred, answered, "Just knock him out and put him in the forest please. I sincerely doubt he'll try anything again after what just happened."

"How merciful," Delta looked down at the cowering man and struck him across the head with the butt of the gun, effectively knocking him out. He threw the man over his shoulder and looked over at Makino again. He stated seriously, "I'm sorry, but I just can't put him in the forest for you."

"What? Why?" both Makino and Luffy asked.

"By request of Makino, I am not to leave the village borders for the next month, and the forest is outside of the borders, so…" Delta grinned, "To complete your request, you will have to lift my current village arrest."

Makino sighed and shook her head as a sign of annoyance, but Delta could see her smile plain as day, "Fine, I will temporarily lift your ban to throw this man out of here. But no funny business, got it?"

"Yeah I got it." Delta answered coolly, though he couldn't hide his grin very well either.

-o0O0o-

 _roughly five minutes later_

Delta walked back into the bar after placing the man some random place deep in the forest, and saw Luffy eating some 'after trauma meat' to get over the man's breakin.

"Oi, Luffy, you alright?" Delta asked, pulling up a seat next to the boy, "That must've been pretty scary, huh?"

"It- 'chomp' was, but then- 'bite' when you showed- 'eat' up, I- 'swallow' knew I was safe." Luffy grinned and continued eating.

"That's nice to hear, but now I realize, I'm not supposed to be talking to you right now." Delta said, getting up.

"Why not?"

"Makino has told me that for the next month I'm not supposed to talk to you without being in her presence. It was a little deal we made last night after you went off to bed," Delta shrugged, just as Makino walked in from the back, "But it's fine, because speak of the devil, she's back. Seems we're good, then."

"Oi, Makino," Luffy called, "Why can't Delta talk to me alone? That seems weird."

Makino shot an accusing glance at Delta, who shrugged it off.

"Um, you see," Makino began, but was quickly cut off.

"Well, Lu, she doesn't trust me much." Delta answered, while Makino proceeded to direct a steady glare at him. "But it does make sense, because I am a stranger and all who just kind of showed up saying I was your older brother. You have to admit, it does sound strange."

Luffy looked at him, perplexed, "But you're not a stranger. You told me you were m-" Delta's hand quickly covered his mouth.

"Luffy," Delta whispered hastily, "Remember we weren't going to talk about that? Remember how I said that was a secret?"

"Oh yeah…"

"You weren't going to talk about what? What was Luffy going to say?" Makino asked.

"Nothing," The pair responded quickly, whistling and looking at either side of the bar respectively as they both tensed up .

"Well I don't believe you two. You are both terrible liars." Makino crossed her arms, "So spill it."

"It's nothing I swear," Delta said quickly while glancing at the floor.

"You really are the worst liar I've ever met." Makino face palmed and turned to Luffy next, "Luffy, do you have anything to say? Remember, I'm doing this all for you." She got down on her knees to look straight into the boys eyes and smiled gently, "You know I don't care to be like this, but I can't have someone I don't know going around and pretending to be your brother. You understand, don't you?"

"Well yeah but that's the thing! You do know him! He's me!" Luffy grinned.

"Luffy no! What are you saying?" Delta rushed over to him, "We literally just went over this! How could you forget? It was like thirty seconds ago!"

"Oops." Luffy laughed, "Sorry." Though he sounded suspiciously not sorry.

Makino gaped. "What are you talking about?" She turned to Delta, who froze. "What did you tell him? How dare you use his young mind for your own sick benefits!"

"Wait what? Makino, you've got this all wrong. Please, just hear me out. I didn't want to tell anyone about this, but because _someone_ is a complete dumbass, I guess I have to explain. ...And, uh, please keep an at least slightly open mind before I say anything."

"This better be good." Makino grumbled.

"Alright, well first, I'll be blunt. I'm from the future. Yes I know- shocking and unbelievable, but it's true. Sounds crazy, but remember, there are such things as devil fruits and other insane, illogical things in existence, so if you tell me that time travel is impossible, then explain to me how Reverse Mountain exists." Delta waited a moment to see if she'd argue. When she did not, he moved on, "Alright, secondly, in the future, my name is not actually Delta, but is actually, wait for it, Monkey D. Luffy."

Now at this, Makino might've laughed out loud at what the man known as Delta was implying if he had not looked so serious. And the fact that he could crush knives, move faster than the eye could see, and was just terrifyingly strong in general also factored in, but it was mostly the serious face thing.

"You're insane. Do you really expect me to just believe you're from the future and that you're Luffy, just twenty years older?"

"Not really, but a man can hope, right? And i'm actually seventeen years older, but that doesn't particularly matter right now. To get you to believe me, I'm going to tell you a certain few things that I think will get you to trust me and my claims, though I need Luffy to leave first. Can't give him too many spoilers about the future, now can I?"

Makino turned to Luffy. "Luffy, would you go up to your room for a little, please? Me and this man here have to talk, and he seems quite adamant about you leaving."

"But I wanna hear the future!" Luffy whined.

Delta scoffed, "Luffy please. I told you I'd answer some of your questions later, but right now, these events are for Makino's ears only. Alright?"

After a moment of considering, Luffy finally grumbled out, "Hmph. Fine. But you owe me," The kid stomped off to his room.

Once Luffy was out of earshot, Delta turned back to Makino. "So what are these _events of the future_ that you're so sure will make me trust you?" She asked.

"Alright, let me preface this with the fact that I'm going to try and tell you as little as possible as to not drastically change the timeline by accident, so bare with me." He took a few moments to collect his thoughts before talking again. Makino rolled her eyes during that time. "See this hat? Does it maybe remind you of any hat you know?" He pulled off his straw hat and passed it to Makino, who looked at it with a mix of curiosity and confusion for what felt like a solid five minutes. Trying to speed up the process with a hint, Delta said. "Maybe of a certain red-haired man...?"

Suddenly Makino's eyes widened immensely in recognition and she looked up at Delta. "Where- where did you get this? Shanks would never give someone this hat, unless…" She gasped, "You ki-"

"No. No. No. No. No I didn't and no don't say it." Delta repeated quickly, putting a finger to his mouth, "And no, I also did not steal it. He actually gave it to me when I was seven. He came to my village and used it as his base camp. Shanks took quite a liking to me and he gave me his hat as a parting gift when he left. This all happened a little over a year from now. Also known as the future. And if you didn't' get this, my village is Foosha, and the boy he gives the hat to is Luffy, or me. Oh, and I know you've got a thing for Shanks." Makino gasped, "But how would I know that, you might ask. Well it's because you told me, but in about fifteen years." Delta stopped talking then, but couldn't tell if his words had thoroughly convinced her.

She was unreadable. Makino looked at Delta, eyes wide, blushing slightly, and at a complete loss for words. She knew that had to be Shanks' hat, and Shanks would be coming to Foosha soon, but she was also certain that the man was keeping it very hush-hush, because the world government was not a big fan of such a strong pirate crew in the weakest sea. The crush thing bothered her, because she hadn't told a soul about it. Sure there were some subtle allusions to it, but there was no solid proof…

Makino took a deep breath. "I have one thing to say to you and one thing only," Delta tensed in anticipation. But she only smiled tentatively and asked, "I was just wondering- how do Shanks and I turn out?"

His tenseness eased and Delta grinned happily, which turned to a smirk as he thought about how to answer Makino's question. "I think that's a little piece of the future I'll just keep to myself for now. I mean, surprise is the best part of life." Then he sighed, "But really, thank you for believing me. I was trying to keep this a secret, but knowing Luffy this would've probably gotten out someday anyway. ...And on that note, if we could keep this me being from the future stuff to ourselves that would be great. And please watch over little me to not spill any beans. I was quite talkative when I was his age, and not very good at keeping secrets."

Makino smiled, "Of course, even I know that about Luffy. And if you really want to keep hidden from exposure, you should hide your hat, considering it would be strange for there to be two of the exact same hat, especially with the importance of who it belongs too… " Makino reasoned, "But that's just my opinion. And this is a little too much for me right now, so I will see you in the morning." She ruffled the Delta's hair and walked away, leaving him to think in silence.

On the one hand, he really wasn't into the idea of getting rid of the hat, but on the other, it made sense in every way besides his sentimentality. Delta growled. He knew there was only one option and he was not a fan. He stood up and walked out of the bar. He walked down the dark, empty streets he knew so well until he reached the beachside.

Delta swallowed hard. He walked to the edge of the dock, and with trembling hands, removed his hat. And if anyone would ask, the water hitting the hat as Delta looked upon it was a very small raincloud, nothing more. He took another deep breath and closed his eyes. When they opened again, they were filled with cold resolve.

He palmed the hat crushing it into a ball, and pulled back. "Gum gum…" Delta began without any ferocity, "Throw." And he threw the hat as hard and as far as he possibly could. He never saw the landing. It hurt.

Without a sound, Delta turned away and made his way back through town and into the bar. He trudged off to bed, hearing the light snoring coming from Luffy's room, who'd undoubtedly fallen asleep during his and Makino's conversation. It was a hard day.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The next twenty-seven days passed with little of particular interest occurring, hence why it was skipped story-wise. Still, Delta loved every minute of it. Waking up each morning, he would be treated to a wonderfully delicious breakfast made by Makino herself, who could not stop apologizing for her 'stupidly awfully terrifying attitude towards him', as she so elegantly put it. Afterwards, the day, though tepid when likened to the Pirate King's alternate life, was a delightful breath of fresh air for the man who had come to know living as being king of the violence in the seas.

Delta would walk around town freely with Luffy in tow due to Makino's lifting of his bans, and they would find anything and everything interesting to do, which was, unsurprisingly enough, not much. After getting their fill of whatever it was they were doing, they'd stop for a quick bite of lunch, where 'quick' usually ended up lasting up to an hour. Then they'd head towards the forest, much to Makino's dismay, who was concerned with the forest's rather large selection of dangerous animals very capable of killing Luffy. Though through a bit of coaxing and whining from the two about how Delta was very strong and could very easily look after Luffy, she begrudgingly accepted.

Afternoons spent in the large, dense forest outside Foosha were where Delta had decided to begin Luffy's training as a fighter, saying the younger the better, which Luffy had happily accepted. He'd have Luffy work on his strength and speed for the first part, forcing him to do the basic exercises he'd seen Zoro doing on the Sunny, but on a much smaller scale. Then he would teach Luffy the very basics of punching and kicking to go along with his soon-to-be great power, and after hours of very rigorous training (for Luffy), not that the boy seemed to mind, Delta would carry him to dinner, where Luffy would tell Makino all about how strong and awesome he was getting with Delta.

Overall, this had been the basic gist of his time spent in the village, but then day twenty-eight happened.

Luffy had just completed the day's training and the pair was resting in the forest when Delta noticed a strange look on Delta's face.

"Oi, Del, what's wrong?" Luffy had instigated the nickname 'Del' to call Delta about a week prior in accordance to Delta's calling Luffy 'Lu'.

"Nothing," Delta responded, which was met with a unbelieving frown. After a moment, Delta raised his hands in surrender, "Alright, alright you got me. I was just thinking of how Garp is coming in two days and I'm not so sure I want to meet him, well at least not yet."

"Why not?" Luffy asked.

"It's just I'm not sure how I should go about explaining why a stranger calling himself his grandson's brother, living with his grandson, _and_ training with his grandson isn't some weird trick or something. He's very protective of us, meaning it'll be quite the conundrum and I'll most likely end up fighting him, and I'd like to avoid that mess for at least a little while longer."

"That makes sense, I guess." Luffy stood up and stretched. "But why not just tell him the future stuff? It worked pretty good with Makino."

"No." Delta stated, "We cannot ever let Garp know the truth about me. Ever. He is one of, if not _the_ last person we would ever want to know, got that?"

Luffy's brow furrowed. "But why?"

"Because," Delta began with a sigh, "He wants you to be a marine, right?" Luffy nodded. "Well, what do you think would happen if he found out his lovable marine bound grandson became a pirate in the future?"

"No idea. What would he do?"

"First, he'd freak out, and you'd be getting 'Fists of Love' harder than you've ever imagined possible. Then after your thorough beating, he'd probably whisk you off to some military base where you'd spend the rest of your childhood training to be the marine you were never meant to be."

Luffy gasped. "H- he wouldn't r- really do that, would he?" Much to the boy's terror, Delta nodded.

"You've never seen Garp angry before. When he gets mad, the little rationality he has goes straight out the window and you're left with an extremely pissy, stubborn old man who will do everything in his power, which is a lot actually, to get what he wants."

"I promise I w-will never, never, never t- tell him Del. I swear it on my life."

"That's good. Problem is, with me around it will be much harder to keep that little secret, so I've been thinking..." Delta paused and turned away from the boy, "About leaving Foosha."

"What? No, you can't! You're so cool and I need you to get strong!" Luffy sniffled, "You can't leave!"

"You don't understand, Lu. I wouldn't be leaving forever, just the ten days Garp would be here." Luffy's features softened a bit, "You'd keep up your training on your own for those days, unless Gramps decides to train you himself, and when he leaves, I'll come back, kay?"

"Okay… but you'd better be back right away once Gramps goes, got it?" Luffy ordered sternly.

Delta chuckled, "Wouldn't have it any other way, Lu."

The next day, after getting the go ahead from Makino, Delta set out on a small dark green sailboat he'd borrowed from one of the very kind fishermen in town. Makino had given him a compass, not that he knew how to use it, but she was on the edge concerning her agreement to the trip anyway, so he decided not to bring it up. She'd also packed ten days worth of dried meat lunchboxes, though because of the Monkey family appetite, ten days worth barely fit on the boat and had to be tightly boxed up and tied down to avoid the food sliding off the side of the craft. After a short goodbye to Makino (Luffy was still sleeping) the man from the future set out to sea in the wee hours of the morning as to have a lot of time to pass Garp's ship when it was still farther out at sea.

For Delta, it was invigorating to be out at sea again. He'd missed the soft calming swaying of the boat on the open seas. He'd missed the cool ocean breeze pushing lightly against his skin. He'd missed the quiet tranquility of being isolated out on the sea. But most of all, he'd missed the overwhelming sense of pure freedom the sea brought to him. Sure the sailboat wasn't the Sunny, not by a long shot, but he was content just the same. That is, until he saw a ship in the distance.

He couldn't quite make out what type of ship it was at that moment, so he sailed towards it. As he got in closer, Delta first noticed that it was a marine ship, no doubt. The grey and aqua blue of the ship, with the big seagull emblem gave it away almost instantly. But what really caught Delta's eye was the dog's head carved out on the front, a bone between its gaping jaws, and a bright pink tongue sticking out the bottom. It was the figurehead of a ship Delta would know anywhere, and it was the ship he'd wanted to see the least. Garp's.

Delta's eyes widened. After only a moment of stunned reaction time. he began his newest and most important mission: Mission hard to port. Unfortunately, Delta definitely did not have time to complete this. Just as he began to turn, a cannonball came whizzing past, landing about ten feet behind him. _A warning shot._

Delta quit his turn then and decided to sail straight into the behemoth of a ship Garp was on. Another cannonball blasted towards him, no longer meant for warning. He kicked it back at the ship, though it failed to break the hull. Another. He punched it. Another. And another punch.

A booming voice came out of the ship, most certainly the voice of Garp. "Why the hell were you just on Dawn Island?"

"I wasn't!" Delta fired back.

"Liar!" ' _Drat, he knew._ '

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am-" Another cannonball came rocketing towards him, which Delta promptly smashed with his fist. "Excuse me I was having a conversation!"

By now, the marine vessel was basically right on top of his dinghy sailboat, but a little to the left. If Delta's sailboat had been big or tall enough, they could've set up gangplanks and charged. Instead, two small hooked chains came out the side of the ship and grappled Delta's transportation and started to reel him up with astonishing speed. That was the moment when meeting Garp was sealed into his fate.

At the end of the reeling, Delta was shown a sight to behold. On deck were about a hundred or so marines all standing at attention on either side of him in set rows. Between the two groups stood Garp in all his glory. The white suit, the small beard, the scar around his eye, it was all there. But he looked younger than Delta remembered. Probably because of the eighteen-year age difference, but still, it was more unnerving than with Makino. He seemed more agile, more ferocious, and more dangerous. Delta was almost intimidated by his Grandpa. Almost.

"Hello," Delta grinned, waving to the crowd of white and blue clad marines.

Garp glared, "What in the hell were you doing on Dawn Island?"

"Uh… I wasn't?"

"Don't you lie to me!" Garp growled, "My navigators are smart and they could tell by your direction and stuff!"

"How?" Delta asked, genuinely curious.

"How the hell should I know?! They're the navigators and besides, you're the one who should be explaining himself!"

"Okay, well you've got me. I was in Foosha-"

"You were in Foosha?!" Garp shouted, and began speed walking up to Delta, fist at the ready.

"Oh did I say Foosha? I meant I was in New … Ra. Yes I was in New Ra. Not Foosha. New Ra. That's where I was… heh."

At that moment, it is said you could here a face palm so loud and so intense it could be heard for miles and miles around, created by over one hundred soldiers simultaneously.

Garp did not look amused with that response. Not even a little. A vein bulged out in his forehead and he made an attempt at knocking Delta's head off, which was still in the sailboat hanging over the ocean. Delta, in a moment of panic, dodged the incoming fist by backing up, which caused him to lose his balance, leading Delta to fall into the sea.

It was cold. Very cold. That was Delta's first thought as he plunged head first into the sea. The next thought was, ' _I'm drowning_ '. And the next, more sobering thought was ' _I am going to die in East Blue. What a pathetic way to go_.' Then Delta blacked out.

-o0O0o-

Delta woke up sputtering. He looked around. He was back on Garp's ship, chained at the wrists and ankles to a bolted down chair on the deck. The chains were sea prism stone; that was bad. He sighed internally.

"Ughhhh…" he grumbled aloud.

"Vice Admiral Garp, the prisoner is awake." A voice stated very serious-like.

Delta didn't bother to look over; it was just one of Gramps' little marine lackeys.

"Prisoner?" Delta asked, still looking around the ship, "But I did nothing wrong, other than be on the wrong island. I don't have even a single beli down for my arrest."

The marine didn't answer. Instead, Delta heard loud footsteps coming over to him from behind. Delta turned as much as he was able to. It was Garp. When the man stood firmly in front of Delta, glare a blazing, he spoke. "You're not a prisoner, brat. I just didn't know what to call you. I was thinking maybe a detained person on my ship that I have a very bad feeling about, but that just didn't have a nice ring to it."

"And why would you have a bad feeling about me?" Delta inquired thoughtfully, "I've done nothing wrong, other than make a small lie as to where I'd come from."

"But that's exactly why I have a bad feeling about you." Garp responded, eyeing the weakened man in front of him. "Why would someone lie about where they were coming from? Especially a place as unassuming as Dawn Island, or Foosha."

"Maybe because an insane old vice admiral started throwing cannonballs at me out of nowhere solely because of the fact of where I could've been? I don't know, it sounds pretty reasonable to me." Delta answered snidely.

"Shut it brat!" Garp bellowed, then in a much lighter tone began "But that's the problem. I don't think that's why you were hiding it so adamantly. I think there's something going on that you want hidden from us, or me specifically, if it's what I'm thinking. And considering you left the day before I was supposed to arrive anyway makes me lean a little to that I might be right."

' _Dang! When did Garp get so perceptive_?'

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Vice Admiral Garp." Delta said, eyeing the ground while sweating profusely.

"You're lying, boy. And you're bad at it." Garp said.

"Am not!" Delta yelled.

"Are too!" Garp yelled back louder.

"Am not!" Delta yelled back even louder.

"Are too!" Garp roared even louder

"Am not!" Delta practically screamed.

"Are too, now shut it." Garp said, ending the battle of voices that was becoming deafening to the other marines. "You're lying and we both know it. Now tell me, who are you?"

Delta sighed. The power of love was just too strong, but he was not going to give out just yet.

"A wanderer."

"What kind of bullcrap answer is that?"

"The only answer you'll get, Monkey D. Garp, grandfather of Monkey D. Luffy and father of Monkey D. D- oh wait. I shouldn't add that last one, now should I?" Delta smirked. If he had to go down, it was to be as an awesome mystery person. He had never been like that in his past life and really wanted to try something new for a change.

To say Garp was at a loss for words would've been an understatement. He literally gaped. After a moment though, he seemed to catch his entirely stupid face and shut his mouth, pulling his glare back up. "Boy, you know things you really shouldn't. Now who are you?"

Delta stared directly into Garp's eyes, neither daring to break eye contact nor make a sound. It was a battle of power that Delta knew he was going to lose. He was tied to a chair with sea prism binds. He was at a loss. He couldn't say the truth. No, never. Even if Garp didn't believe him, and honestly he probably wouldn't, Garp might actually kill him. And that was another thing Delta wanted to avoid at all costs, so there was only one sensible thing left to do, at least in Delta's eyes. He had to lie. He had to make up a good lie and go with it. It was the only way.

Mustering all the raw lying power he could, he thought of a lie. It wasn't a good one, no. But it wasn't the worst one, either. Keeping the most normal, unlying face he could manage, knowing that messing up this lie meant probable death and/or a terrible life for the little Luffy, Delta spoke.

"I'm… Makino's husband."

A moment passed. Then another. Then another. You could probably cut the tension with a knife, as the saying goes, and then another moment passed. And then, then, Garp answered, "You're what?"

"I'm Makino's husband." Delta repeated with a little more confidence. "We married recently, but she wasn't sure you'd approve of me being near Luffy, who I assure you thinks I'm awesome, and…uh… here we are."

Garp studied the man for a bit. Then he said, "Bullshit."

Delta started panicking. Apparently Garp wasn't as stupid as he remembered. But he couldn't let Luffy fall into the hands of-

Garp burst out laughing, "Boy, you look hilarious! Sorry about that, but I just had to see your face! Bwahahahaha!"

Delta couldn't read the situation. Was he screwed? What had happened? "Eh… what?"

"Sorry brat, I just had to see the face of Makino's husband under stress of death. And I must say, you took it quite well. What'd you say your name was?" Garp wiped a tear from his eye, probably from laughing too hard.

"Delta."

"Well Delta, welcome to the family. You are quite the mystery, but now the whole 'knowing my family thing' makes a hell of a lot more sense. Makino sure trusts you, doesn't she?"

"We never keep secrets from each other."

"Oh, and sorry about the chains; we just didn't know who you were." Garp looked at the marines, "Men! Get me the key to these things right now! This man is not our enemy!"

A man with a very troubled look came from the crowd of marine uniforms and began undoing the shackles keeping Delta in place. As the final click of his left ankle chain fell to the floor, Delta stood up. Immediately his strength came surging back into his body and he felt like he could crush a buster call just for fun. But with none in sight, he stretched.

"So, if you don't mind me asking; what's your devil fruit? Don't see many if them around in East Blue." Garp sounded lighthearted, but there was an undertone of quiet suspicion.

"Uh…it doesn't really matter, does it?" Quick to change the topic he asked, "So where do you keep the meat in this place?"

Garp laughed, seemingly forgetting the topic of Delta's devil fruit. "Makino's sure picked a good one; got his damn priorities straight. Now come on, follow me." He walked off towards one of the doors to where Delta could only assume was the kitchen. Delta ran over to catch up with him. "Now about the name Delta…"

-o0O0o-

Delta and Garp were sitting out on the deck on beach chairs by the dog head, watching the sea in all its stillness, only moving in light waves as the ship sailed through. It was calming, peaceful, a feeling Delta'd never before experienced while within arm's reach of Garp, but for some reason he seemed deep in thought, which was always a bad sign when it came to Garp.

"Say Lucy, about Makino…" Garp had decided earlier Delta was too hard for him to say, so he decided to call Delta Lucy instead. Why Lucy, you ask? Because I thought that part of the Dressrosa arc was hilarious and it will never get old. Delta had no problems with it so why should you? Anyways…' _Oh no he's figured me out. I'm screwed._ ' "When'd you meet her?" ' _Oh good. He is still an idiot._ '

"About eighteen years ago, but I only really came back into her life around a month ago," he paused, waiting for Garp to say something, but he seemed deep in thought, so Delta continued, "She didn't particularly trust me at first…" Garp grumbled in agreement, "…But that was mostly because she didn't recognize me from before. I mean; I was just a kid back then. Appearances change. And she thought I'd died."

"So what made her know it was you?"

"Well, she didn't really at first, but I told her a few things that only I would know, and she had a change of heart."

He seemed satisfied with the answer. "So only seen her a month, eh?" Garp said after a moment.

"Yep."

"The marriage must've been recent."

"It- it was. Very recent. But Luffy seemed alright with it." Delta had trouble keeping a straight face.

"Oh, how is Luffy, by the way? On the road to the marines?"

Choosing to ignore the second part, Delta answered, "Oh good. A complete and total dumbass, but good."

"Bwahahahaha! You got that right! Says he wants to be a pirate, but he'll learn. Even if I have to force it out of him." He then mumbled something unintelligible under his breath. All Delta heard was something about rice crackers and marines.

The pair sat in silence for a few more minutes, watching the sea and sky and thinking. Then Garp stood up, told Delta, or Lucy that they'd be landing in Foosha in a little over three hours.

Delta didn't nap much, but lying really tired him out, and this string of lies was no exception.

-o0O0o-

The ship docked a little outside Foosha near some craggy boulders that dropped off over the cliff. The sun was setting, making the light source more and more inconvenient. When it had all been settled, Delta was the first off the ship. Once he touched land, he broke out in a wild sprint to Foosha, which was stopped abruptly by a randomly pissed off Garp. But as Delta turned around, Garp's strange anger disappeared as quickly as it'd sprung.

"Come on, Lucy. I know you want to go see your sweet Makino, but please, come with us. This forest could be dangerous."

"Hey! I can handle myself!" Delta shouted.

"I'm sure you can," Garp started, "But stay with us please, if only to keep this old man's mind from wandering to some dark places."

"Okay." That was really the only thing Delta could say. He couldn't run. He wouldn't fight Garp. He was helpless and it sucked.

The pair walked through the forest in an uncomfortable silence for the next mile. The other marines were ordered to stay by the ship; the trip was a family thing and they were only there by order of Sengoku. The forest was quiet at night. Everything was either asleep or getting ready to do so. The only sounds were some faraway owls and bugs, along with Garp and Delta's footsteps crunching on dried leaves and twigs.

The two reached Foosha with no real incident. The town looked nice, but neither man smiled. There was a tension between them that Delta was not happy about. Garp was hiding something. In the back of Delta's mind he felt the marriage thing didn't actually convince Garp, but he chose to ignore it in place of Garp being a ninja, which he was slowly getting more and more sure about.

"We're here." Garp said.

"Great." Delta responded. "Can't wait to see Makino and Luffy. I'm sure they'll be surprised."

"Of course. You weren't supposed to be here, were you?" The question was stated more as fact, "And I wasn't supposed to be here 'till morning. I bet they'll be happy."

"Real happy."

Their conversation somehow got them to the doors of Party's Bar. The outside lights were still out, but inside, behind the shades, a light still shone, inviting the two in.

Garp went for the door. "I'll go first, if you don't mind."

"Sure."

Makino looked up from the counter she was washing. "Sorry, the bar's closed… Garp?"

Garp smiled, pulling the door open and embracing Makino in a hug. "Hey Makino, we caught your husband on his way out, sorry you thought I wouldn't like him."

"Wha-"

Delta quickly caught her mid sentence, "Hey Makino. Yep, I got caught. Haha."

Makino looked over at Delta for a split second before realizing what was happening. She was always smart that way. "Oh Delta, you silly boy." She said cutely. It annoyed Delta how good at lying she was. Rubbing it in his face like that, who did she think she was?

"Uh…yeah. Sorry." Delta said awkwardly.

Garp smiled at the two. "Look at you two lovebirds. How sweet." He was silent for a moment while Makino and Delta exchanged confused glances. Then he said with a start, "Well now that _that_ lie is over with, let's have a chat."

"WHAT?" Makino and Delta yelled.

"You knew?!" Delta was flabbergasted. Makino was less of that. She probably knew right away. She was just yelling surprisedly to help Delta's ego. It annoyed Delta.

"Well duh. Now then, take a seat, both of you. I insist." Garp said politely. Too politely. Well any polite was too polite with Garp, but that was beside the point.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Previously…

"Well duh. Now take a seat, both of you. I insist." Garp said politely. Too politely. Well, any polite was too polite with Garp, but that was beside the point.

Now…

"Psssshhh," Delta waved his hand in dismissal, "I'm not lying. What in the world are you talking about? I am hundred percent m- married to Makino."

Makino frowned, "Delta, please. I don't think-"

"I am _super_ married. To Makino. My wife. Who I love. Because we're married. Yes."

"Delta, really this is-"

"In love one hundred percent."

Garp looked at Delta as if embarrassed for him, "Lucy, please. Listen to Makino. What you're doing… well boy, it's just sad."

Delta looked around nervously _. 'It's all over for Luffy. He's going to marine camp. Wait, more like murder camp. His life is over. My life is over. No. Who am I kidding? I'm the goddamn Pirate King! I'm not gonna lose to Gramps. I will defeat the power of love. I will defeat the ninja.'_ He then sighed. "Fine. You got me. I'm not married to Makino."

"Thank y-"

"I'm actually the ghost of her dead brother, Manino." For two seconds, Garp just stared at Delta, neither moving. Then Delta fell to the ground after being punched in the gut. Not that he hadn't seen the fist coming, but he felt that he may have deserved it.

"Lucy, will you please be seated?" Garp gestured to the two chairs opposite him, "Let's have a talk." Delta failed to point out that he was already seated. Seated on the ground.

Delta instead grasped the chair and pulled himself up. Seeing Makino was already sitting, he hesitantly sat opposite her, right next to Garp. "So," Makino started, "How has it been, Garp?"

Ignoring Makino, Garp studied Delta intensely, as if looking for some fatal flaw that would give him reason to bash his brains in. Luckily for Delta, he did not seem successful in his search. Passing a quick glance to Makino, he said gruffly, "You know Lucy, the only reason I didn't leave you to sink when you fell in the ocean earlier was because there were so many marines around. Wouldn't have looked too good if I got reported to Sengoku. That guy's a real stickler for rules, you know."

Makino glanced at Delta worriedly, and Delta mouthed ' _later'_. He turned back to Garp, "At least you have your priorities in check."

"Meh, I don't really care what you think, boy," Garp said. "Then, the only reason I kept you alive after we'd brought you on board was that little conversation we had about my family. I wasn't sure who you'd gotten the information from or if it was a solo effort, so I waited to see where you'd go, what you'd do."

"Garp, he's not a bad guy." Makino pleaded, "He's just… strange, that's all."

"Oi!" Delta huffed. Makino shot him a sorry glance.

Garp made the smallest of grins, "Wait a second, Makino. I appreciate your opinion and I'm getting to that. Anyways, when Lucy told me he was married to Makino; that set off a bunch of red flags. Makino's not a particularly well-known figure around the world, meaning the only reason Lucy'd know her'd be if he was in direct contact with Luffy."

"How perceptive." Delta murmured, slightly surprised.

"You know, _boy_ , I didn't get where I am today from brute strength alone. I can think a thing or two if need be. So shut your mouth before I shut it for you." Delta shut his mouth. "Good. So when I learned this, I decided to bring you to Makino to see how she'd react to you. You see, I trust her absolutely, so when she went along with your lie to save your sorry ass, it made me think. So here we are."

Delta raised an eyebrow. Garp stayed silent.

"So?" Makino and Delta finally asked in sync.

"So what?" Garp seemed genuinely puzzled.

"So if you trust her and she trusts me, why _are_ we here?" Delta specified.

"Ah yes. You see, I understand that for one reason or another you can't tell me who you are, which makes me want to break your face…"

"Sure, sure. Makes sense."

Garp twisted a bit in his seat, "But it seems that I will not be doing that any time soon. So I'm asking, what is the real situation here? Are you staying in Foosha? Leaving? What?"

"Ah," Makino began, "He'll be staying here with me until further notice. No raucous causing, I'll make sure of that." She sent a stern glare to Delta, who shivered.

Garp sighed, "About as much as I was expecting. Well Lucy, it seems for the time being, you're joining our little family. I'm not particularly excited about it, but for now, I'll go with Makino on this."

"Thank you." Delta said.

"Shut it, Lucy. I don't like you and I don't know what you're hiding from me and that makes me like you even less," He gave a very menacing glare, "So remember this; if Makino ever comes to me with a single doubt about your trustworthiness, I will crush you."

"You can try," Delta intoned, not particularly knowing where that came from. Garp narrowed his eyes.

"Please-" Makino pleaded.

"I'm just saying that you're kind of old, I'm not, and, well…"

Garp scowled. His body tensed and his fists balled up. He readied to stand. " _Boy_ , you don't know what you're talking about."

Delta shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not. I just hope we have a doctor ready during our fight in case there're some steep stairs and you hurt your back."

Garp's eyes gleamed. His face reddened. "I am going to-"

"Gramps!" Luffy came running into the bar and jumped into a hug. ' _Oh, how the days of actually enjoying Gramps visits had been. So bright. So innocent._ ' "I thought you were coming in tomorrow!"

Immediately, Garp cooled down. His fists unclenched; his muscles relaxed under his white suit. A grin replaced his scowl. He pulled his beefy arms into the hug, squeezing Luffy and seemingly forgetting the burning hatred he had felt towards Delta just moments earlier. "Sorry about that Luffy. We were a little ahead of schedule. That okay?"

"Yeah!" Luffy grinned, "I haven't seen you in years!" Actually, it had only been a couple months, but nobody bothered to correct him. Luffy's eyes then wandered over to Makino and Delta. "Delta! You're back too!" he yelled, releasing the hug and running towards his future self, much to Garp's obvious dismay.

"We found him in a little dingy on our way here and picked him up." Garp said without much enthusiasm. ' _Picked me up. Right_.'

"Cool!" Luffy laughed, "I thought I was gonna' have to train by myself for the next ten days!"

Garp raised an eyebrow, "Train?"

Luffy turned to Garp after a moment of staring infatuatedly at Delta. "Yep! He's training me to be an awesome pirate! Shishsishishi!"

"WHAT?" Garp bellowed in rage, his temper flaring again.

"Luffy, why did you say that?" Delta yelled, "Now Garp's gonna' try and kill me! This is exactly like what happened with Makino!"

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Sorry."

"Luffy, we are going to have a long talk when-" Delta was cut off as Garp's fist made contact with his face, sending him flying through the wooden wall of Makino's bar. "Ow!"

"That's for teaching my grandson to be a no good pirate!" The old man sprinted towards Delta with surprising speed, fist raised, "And this is for me just not liking you!" He swung, hitting nothing but air as Delta swung himself out of the way.

"Let me explain!" Delta yelled, dodging yet another raging fist.

"Whatever you have to say, do it now!" Garp yelled angrily, throwing another punch as they both ignored Luffy's incessant cheering from the bar.

"I'm not training Luffy to be a pirate!" Delta lied quickly, "I'm just training him to get stronger! I see potential in hi-oop!" He threw himself onto the ground to avoid Garp's solid black foot.

"That's bullcrap!"

"No it's true! He just wants to be a pirate really bad! I promise, I've tried explaining to him that pirates are pure evil, but he just won't listen- ah!" ' _Too close for comfort,_ ' he thought as another fist came bounding past his face, just past his nose. ' _This not attacking or using my devil fruit or using any awesome abilities strategy is hard!_ '

Garp stopped punching for a moment, thinking about what Delta had just said. Delta hoped that Garp would just believe him, but felt that that would be too good to be true. That is, until Luffy yelled, "Don't tell him that! Now he's gonna' be mad at me and I'm gonna' get so many fists of love!" And that did the trick.

Garp turned to his grandson, fire in his eyes. "You lied to me, you little brat?" Luffy gulped and quickly shook his head 'no' before promptly running away. "Get back here! I'm gonna' teach you a lesson in wasting my time!" Garp shouted, running back to the bar and jumping through the Delta shaped hole in the wall.

Delta sighed in relief. "Thank you, Luffy. You really pulled through." He looked at Makino, who was still standing by the hole in the wall. "I think that went well."

Makino just smiled. She pointed at the gaping hole. Her smile turned sinister.

"I'll fix that tomorrow. Don't worry."

The sinister smile faded, and she walked to her room, presumably to go to bed, and ignored the yelling and punching coming from somewhere else in the bar.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Delta flopped onto his bed in Party's Bar with a dull squeak. The past week and three days had been a nightmare. A nightmare. Garp, overprotective grandpa that he was, had made it his duty to make sure that Delta was trailed and watched at every moment of the day by the random marines from Garp's ship stationed on Foosha. He was also prohibited from speaking to Luffy without Garp's unwelcome supervision. It was even worse than the short lockdown stint with Makino.

And really, the constant surveillance had gotten to him. He couldn't do anything that would remotely make him seem like a threat, meaning that using his wide range of skills to escape the marines would only be asking for trouble, and he couldn't use his devil fruit in any way, shape, or form because that would just confuse everyone when Luffy ate his.

Also, the simple idea of talking to Luffy became a drag as it was impossible to have any sort of meaningful conversation with Garp looming just a few feet away, always glaring daggers at Delta. It was made even worse by Luffy's complete inability to keep his mouth shut about some of the more sensitive information he knew, which made half of their terrible, unproductive conversations just Delta shushing his younger counterpart over and over.

This of course culminated in a shouting match between Garp, who was tired of Delta keeping things from him, and Delta, who was tired of Garp's general existence. After a bit, Garp completely lost his cool, punched Delta through the wall of the bar again, and Makino was forced to settle it. Delta, who was sitting on his ass outside, only saw Makino furiously whispering at Garp and making odd hand motions, but when he walked back in through the hole, Garp refused to even so much as acknowledge his presence for the rest of that day.

Strangely, Delta had been punched through the exact same place in the wall as the first time.

Terrible conversions weren't even all of it, as he hadn't really seen much of Luffy anyhow. Most of the time the boy and Garp were out in the forest training, if his memory of his own past served him right. It was really pretty boring in Foosha with only Makino and a bunch of ninny marine recruits around for company.

But finally, finally, finally, it was over. Delta laughed a humorless laugh from his bed at the fact that he could now get some much needed alone-from-marines time. Garp had sailed off that morning, before Delta had even woken up. He'd only heard the news minutes earlier after asking Makino about the old man's whereabouts.

There was a knock at the door.

"Come in." Came Delta's muffled voice, his head firmly lodged in the pillows.

The door whooshed open, leaving in its place a widely grinning Luffy practically bouncing up and down.

"Hey there, Lu. What's got you so exited?"

"Gramps is gone!" He all but shouted.

Delta nodded into his pillow. "And?"

"We can hang out again like before!"

"Sounds good to me. Watcha wanna' do, little man?"

"Fight me!" Luffy roared, pumping his tiny fist in the air.

Delta picked up his head to stare at Luffy blankly. "Whuh? Why?"

"Cause you've been gone all week-"

"Not my fault." Delta interrupted. Luffy ignored him.

"-Gramps has been training me. He was pretty happy with my strength I got with your help, so instead of conditioning, he taught me some awesome fighting moves!" Luffy punched at the air to emphasize his point.

"You can't beat me," Delta said, as if explaining something to a small child. Which evidently, he was. "And I'm not just saying that. It would literally be impossible. With only your fists, you could punch me in the same spot over and over for a year and I'd barely bruise. Remember Lu, I'm the Pirate King."

"Don't care! Fight me!" He raised his fists again.

After a moment, Delta sighed. "Fine." Luffy cheered. They walked down the stairs, through the bar that was way too filled for eleven in the morning, and stopped outside in the dirt road. Like an old western, the two took their places on opposite sides, facing one another.

A few passersbys paused their daily activities to see what the two hooligans of Foosha were doing now, and Delta was impressed to see a small crowd had formed.

"You ready?" He lazily asked Luffy, not that he really needed an answer. The boy was literally shaking in anticipation.

"Yeah!"

"Then ready... set… go."

Immediately, Luffy came charging at him like a bull, fist clenched and ready to strike.

"LUFFY PUNCH!" He yelled, letting his arm go soaring, yet sadly hitting nothing but air.

"You named your attack?" Delta asked, now on the other side of their makeshift arena. "Why?"

"Gramps said it makes your attacks stronger! And it's also cool!" Delta had to concede to that point.

Luffy ran at him again. "LUFFY KICK!" He yelled as he kicked at Delta (Crazy, I know).

And once again, Luffy hit nothing as the crowd 'oohed' and 'aahed' at Delta's superhuman speed. This time though Delta went on the offensive, delivering a (relatively) weak kick to Luffy's side and sending the boy spiraling to the ground.

"Lu, you're being silly."

"No you!" the boy yelled, shakily getting to his feet and running at Delta again.

As the Pirate King readied himself to sidestep to the left, Luffy caught him off guard, making a feint in a very skilled move for a six year old.

Of course, he was still a six year old and Delta was still the Pirate King, so it didn't really do much in terms of turning the tides of the fight, but it was still impressive nonetheless.

"Nice one." Delta complimented as he sent a swift kick to Luffy's head, knocking him out cold. Some of the crowd booed at that and Delta turned to them, utterly unrepentant. "Oh shut up. If you knew Luffy like I know Luffy, you'd know he would never give up until he literally couldn't move anymore. I was doing him a favor."

That actually did help in quelling some of the townsfolk.

"Now if you'll excuse me," he said, picking up Luffy, "I'm gonna' go put this guy to bed. Bye."

Walking back into the bar, Delta noticed a nasty bruise forming on his forehead and inwardly winced. "Sorry Lu." He whispered.

"Iz all righ…" Came Luffy's gurgled reply.

"Huh, I meant to knock you out. You're one tough kid."

A stupid grin lit up his face. "I'm… you."

Delta couldn't help but smile as well. "That you are Lu, that you are."

-o0O0o-

Time flew by in Foosha for Delta over the next couple months. Between training and hanging out with Luffy (which took a lot of his time; Luffy was very needy) and helping Makino at the bar (yes, he was an adult and believed that he needed to work to get his keep), he really didn't have much to complain about, though. Life was actually pretty good. Sure he was still in the past and far away from his crew, but if he had to be somewhere he was glad it was Foosha. Being the Pirate King and all, he didn't really have much ability to go to East Blue in the future. The world government wouldn't have been able to stand for it, which Delta understood, even if he hadn't been happy about it. Also, he, Makino, and Luffy had celebrated Luffy's seventh birthday during this short time skip. They had eaten a meat cake, naturally.

This is what Delta thought about as he slowly scrubbed the bar top in a very cliche looking movement. He paused as he heard the yelling of someone who could only be Luffy getting nearer and nearer until the bar door slammed open and Luffy sprinted in, gasping for breath.

"So what's up, Lu?" Delta asked with a raised brow as he looked down at the raven haired boy.

"Delta- it's- it's- a pirate ship! Right outside! Come- look!" He yelled between gasps of air.

Delta couldn't tell whether Luffy was scared or excited, but he followed Luffy outside either way. When Delta stepped outside, he was immediately bombarded with cheers of joy from all around.

"Delta thank the heavens!" the crotchety old Mayor Woop Slap sounded as he made his way over, "There are disgusting pirates on our shore! You have to take care of them!"

Delta held in a sigh. His superior fighting ability had made him into something of a superhero within Foosha. It was also partially because he had single handedly made crime near non existent, but the people had severely misjudged his motives. He wasn't a hero, he just liked the townspeople and didn't want to see them hurt. It wasn't some ethical need of his to help people or anything. And it wasn't like he hadn't tried to explain that he wasn't a hero, he had, they just wouldn't listen to him.

But Delta didn't say any of that in to Woop Slap in that moment. He instead just smiled reassuringly. "Of course, mayor. You know I'd never let pirates hurt you guys."

Woop Slap smiled. All the random people suspiciously surrounding Party's Bar cheered some more.

"Delta, come on!" Luffy whined, pulling at his shirt.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm coming." The two walked out to the coast, passing by the increasingly obnoxious cheers of thanks and joy.

At about a quarter mile distance from the beach, cheering people disappeared. Pirates really did scare just about everyone. Foosha turned into a ghost town. Still, Luffy and Delta trekked on.

Finally, the two stepped onto the beach. Delta stopped dead in his tracks. The ship was big, yet unassuming and not particularly memorable. No, it wasn't the ship he loved, but the people on board that ship. Oh, how he missed them. He could never forget that jolly roger. Two red bands crossing one one of the eyes, and two swords to replace the generic crossbones.

Delta swallowed. It was the Red Haired Pirates.

"Are you alright?" Luffy asked.

"What?" He shook his head, snapping out of his reverie. "Oh, it's nothing. Now let's go talk to these pirates."

"But I thought you said you were gonna' beat them up?"

Delta smiled. "That's because Woop Slap isn't like us. He doesn't understand how cool pirates can be."

Luffy grinned. "Shishishishi!"

"You know, your friend is a pretty smart guy." The friendly voice of Shanks said, suddenly appearing in the crouched position at their side.

"Yeah I know! Delta's awesome!"

Shanks raised in eyebrow and smirked. "Is he now?"

"Yeah! He's the strongest guy I know, and he's training me to be the Pirate King!" Luffy held up two fingers. "Double awesome!"

Shanks laughed. "Pirate King, huh? And what makes a shrimp like you think you could find the One Piece?"

Delta froze. He and Luffy had talked about this and he really believed that Luffy wouldn't give out his secret willy nilly anymore, but the fear lingered in the back of his head.

"It's cause I'm strong, duh! My punch is as powerful as a pistol!"

Delta couldn't hold in his sigh. When he had been a kid, it had taken meeting Shanks to get him to start saying that, but apparently he had taken Shanks' place in his younger self's life. Whoop de freakin' doo.

"You don't look very strong to me." Shanks said jokingly. He turned to the rest of his crew, who were slowly filing out of the ship and coming towards them. "Hey boys! Do you think this kid looks he's got pistol punches?"

"Not a chance." Lucky Roo cajoled as he reached them. He looked down at Luffy through his little black shades. "Who is this kid anyway?"

"I'm gonna' be the King of the Pirates, fatty!" Luffy yelled in righteous anger.

Shanks paused. Delta paused. Lucky Roo paused. The part of Shanks' that had heard Luffy's comment paused. Then, simultaneously, the all fell to the ground in uncontrollable laughter.

This did not help calm Luffy's righteous anger. "Stop it! What are you idiots doing? Quit laughing!"

Delta managed to calm down the most first. He placed a comforting hand on Luffy's shoulder and smiled at him. "Never change, Lu."

"What does that even mean?"

"Lu, you just called one of the strongest members of the Red Haired Pirates 'fatty'. That's amazing."

Shanks, also having calmed down, perked up at that. "You know about us, kid? I'm surprised. East Blue's a pretty sheltered place."

Delta nodded. "You're not wrong there. No, I learned your names over here, but I learned what you are out on the Grand Line."

Shanks seemed impressed. "You've been to the Grand Line? What brought you back here, then?"

"Long story short, I left due to forces out of my control. I didn't mean to."

"Stop ignoring me, you butts!" Luffy roared, face red as a tomato. If Delta didn't know better, he would've thought his counterpart was going to pop a gasket.

"Sorry about that, little guy. What's your name, anyhow?" Shanks asked.

"I'm Monkey D. Luffy, future Pirate King!"

"And is that all one name or…?"

Luffy stared dumbfounded. "What?"

Delta sighed, "Lu it's not hard. He was talking about Newton's three laws of motion and Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle."

Luffy looked even more confused now. "Wuh?"

Delta shook his head disparagingly. "Antimatter. Trig. Galileo. Calculus. Pythagorean Theorem. Alkali Metals."

Luffy staggered, head spinning. "I- I don't-"

Delta quickly listed off, "Physics. Copernicus. Bernoulli. Electrolysis. Inertia. Radiation."

Luffy fell over, unconscious.

Delta smirked. "That did the trick."

The entirety of the Red Haired Pirates stared at him, utterly dumbfounded.

"What did you do?" Yasopp asked from a little ways away.

"Lu is easily confused," Delta explained, "If he's being overly emotional- angry for example, I just say lots of big words and pretend he should understand them until he passes out."

"But are any of those things you said even words? What's a physics?"

Delta shrugged. "Some stupid thing that has no place being here. I just made up all those words on the spot. Lu can't tell the difference, so why not?"

"Is that child abuse?" Some random no name Red Haired pirate asked.

"No idea I doubt it, but why would you care? You're a pirate."

"I think he just wanted to learn some new trivia." Yasopp said.

Delta shrugged. "Whatever. I'm gonna' take Luffy back to Makino's, so if one or two of you would come with me, that'd be great."

"Why only one of two?" Yasopp queried.

Delta rolled his eyes in a very noticeable fashion. "In case you haven't noticed, you guys are pirates and this is a defenseless town. I think it would be understandable if they got a little worked up by you all just barging in. Sure I know you guys are peaceful, but they don't know that. Yet, at least."

"And how do you know we are peaceful?" Lucky Roo asked, crossing his arms. "If you know who we are, you know that we're some pretty dangerous folk. And it's not like you know us personally- he'll, we don't even know you're name."

"It's Delta," Shanks said cheerfully, "At least that's what the future Pirate King said."

"And you're right, I don't know any of you personally," Delta lied, "But I know Makino, and she trusts you to be here, so I do too."

"And how is Makino doing, by the way?" Shanks asks with a fond smile.

"Just come with me and see. You too, Yasopp. You're not very physically intimidating, so that'll help in quelling the townspeople's fears."

Hanging Luffy over his shoulder, Delta walked off with Shanks and Yasopp close behind, ignoring both the blushing face of Yasopp and the roaring laughter emanating from the rest of his crew. They walked in relatively peaceful silence, as the only sounds other than footsteps made were the two bullets Yasopp fired at Delta for his half-joke, which he deftly avoided. Looking back at the perpetrator, he noticed that both of the Red Haired Pirates seemed impressed. He just grinned.

"Delta! Delta! Did you take down those pirates yet?" Mayor Woop Slap yelled in greeting. Then, his eyes wandered over to the two new companions and the little old man went rigid.

"Hello mayor! Don't mind these guys, they're cool."

"But they're- they're- they're-"

"Pirates? Yes, I've noticed. Don't worry though, they get the Delta seal of approval."

Gaining back some semblance of his usual self, the mayor yelled, "No! I will not have any no good, rotten pirates in my town!"

"Ouch, that stung." Shanks said solemnly, placing a hand over his heart.

"Come on mayor, don't you trust me? They're not bad, promise."

At that moment, Makino decided to appear out of the shadows in defense of the new pirates. "Please mayor, I know these men and I pledge that they're good people. And look at this guy!" She motioned to Yasopp, "He looks like a twig that grew a face! He couldn't hurt a fly!"

"Well, actually-" What would have been some sort of gloating about how he could hit a fly from a hundred feet away was cut off by Delta, who punched him in the face.

"So you see mayor, even Makino is on my side about this. In conclusion," Delta concluded, "These pirates are perfectly harmless and neither you nor anyone else in Foosha need worry about them." Shanks clapped. So did Makino.

Woop Slap finally seemed convinced, but then, "Why is Luffy unconscious on your shoulder?"

"He was getting angry again."

"Ah." After a moment, "Fine. They can stay. But I'm not happy."

Suddenly, barges of townsfolk who had probably been eavesdropping flooded out of their houses with cheers to greet the new pirates. It was all very exciting.

"Hey guys!" Shanks hollered, "The mayor guy said we could stay!"

And like that, the cheering doubled in intensity as Shanks' entire crew came barreling out from the corner side street. Delta at first wondered why he hadn't noticed them trailing behind him, but soon realized it was just a stupid gag and stopped caring. Luckily enough, only a few townspeople screamed in terror at the sudden influx of random pirates.


	6. Chapter 6

**I haven't really done one of these yet, but I just wanted to say thanks you for all the reviews. It's pretty awesome. Also, I'm planning on editing the first three chapters to make them, well, better cause I don't really like how they turned out when I wrote them six months ago. So be ready for that, if you care.**

Chapter 6

"Come on, you little crap! Teddy bears punch harder than you! I'm ashamed! Yeah, that's it! Keep it up and maybe you won't die the second you meet a real pirate!"

"Rahhhh!" Luffy roared as he jabbed his bloody fist into Delta's open palm.

Delta smiled scarily. "There! You got it! Fifteen more of those and if you're lucky, we'll take a break!"

Seated legs crossed on a boulder a short distance away, Shanks remarked, "This is pretty tough training for such a shrimp. And you do this everyday? You sure the kid can take it?"

Delta laughed, completely calm even with the rapid fire punches being launched into his unprotected hand. "Yes and yes. And don't blame me, Lu here is the one who demands I train him."

"If you don't, who will?" Luffy growled as he continued his focused attacks on Delta.

"If you put the amount of effort you use talking on fighting, maybe I would actually feel a couple of these!" Delta roared in a very Garp-like manner. He held in a shiver at that thought.

"Anchor, you really got to put your all into it!" Shanks advised, "Half of fighting comes from desire, you know."

Luffy paused for a moment, his eyes flickering to Shanks relaxed form. He breathed in deeply. He pulled his arm back. He punched.

And a tingle spread through Delta's hand. He grinned and ruffled Luffy's shaggy, sweaty head. "Nice one, Lu! Do those more often and we'll really be cooking!"

"Shishsishishi!" Luffy laughed.

Stretching his slowly cramping arm, Delta said, "I think that's enough for today. We've really made some good progress and I think it would be better to stop on a high note. I guess I can't say Shanks is completely unhelpful anymore."

"Hey!" The aforementioned red head shouted indignantly.

"Thanks, Del." Luffy said between deep, tired breaths.

"Come on, Lu. Let's get back to town. Eh, and Shanks, I guess you can come too if you want."

"You're generosity is greatly appreciated," the captain said as he stood up and dusted off his coat. "I could really use a pint right about now."

"It's half past noon."

"Exactly."

Delta just shook his head as the trio headed through the forest and back to Party's Bar. Even before falling into the past, he'd never been much of a drinker, and compared with people like Nami or Zoro, he was practically a lightweight. Nope, no thinking of them, he mentally scolded himself. As a rule, he never thought about his past life. It hurt just a tad too much to be healthy.

Unsurprisingly, the bar was filled with Red Haired Pirates when they returned.

"Yahhh!" They drunkenly greeted the three.

"Makino, some sake if you please!" Shanks yelled, "And while you're at it, fill up all these boys' glasses. I don't think they're wasted enough!" The pirates whooped.

Makino rolled her eyes, but nonetheless did as Shanks asked.

With Shanks, Luffy and Delta took a stool at the bar. Smiling, the redhead turned to the other two. "And what'll you two be having this fine day!"

"Apple juice!" Luffy immediately responded.

And in turn, the entire bar was immediately a raucous of laughter.

"You're such a child, anchor!" Shanks joked good naturedly.

"Shut up! I have punches as strong as a pistol! Delta said so!"

To the left of the two, Delta piped up. "I said nothing of the sort."

"Deltaa!" Luffy whined, "Whose side are you on anyway?"

"The side that doesn't condone cutting your face with a knife to show how tough you are."

And with that, a chorus of laughter refilled the room.

"Almost forgot about that little number," Beckman said lowly, pointing to the spot under his own eye. "How's the scar coming along, by the way?"

"Not you too!" Luffy whined pitifully.

"Aw, don't mind them, Luffy. I thought that was very brave of you." Makino said kindly, "But if you ever do anything so stupid ever again, I will personally make sure you never leave this island, much less become Pirate King."

Luffy gulped and nodded numbly.

Shanks patted Luffy on the back. "Don't worry, Anchor. Secretly, I think you're really strong."

"Really?" Stars shone in the boy's eyes.

"Ha, no."

"You're so mean!"

As the pirate crew fell into another fit of drunken laughter, which was honestly becoming quite obnoxious, Delta simply watched as the unassuming Luffy grabbed an oddly designed piece of fruit and bit into it, hurriedly swallowing the whole thing. Delta smothered a grin of anticipation.

Then, as if the moment were destined to happen exactly as it had before, a tall, bearded man by the name of… something or other waltzed in. Delta was surprised to find he couldn't remember the man's name at all, though it really wasn't that odd as it had happened sixteen years since the event and he had been seven at the time.

"So this is what pirates look like," The man said disparagingly as he and his bandit crew eyed the bar occupants. "Never seen one before, but really, you guys look pretty pathetic." His crew laughed dumbly.

He took a few steps in like he owned the place. "Now I'm not here to cause any trouble, don't you worry. Me and my boys are just looking for ten barrels of your finest sake."

"I'm sorry sir, but we're all out." Makino apologized.

"All out, huh? Then what is it these guys are drinking? Water?"

"No, it's sake, but I'm afraid they've taken the last of it."

Shanks turned to the bandit, holding out his glass. "Here, you can have mine."

The man turned to scrutinize the bottle, before smashing it in Shanks' face. "You think one measly bottle is gonna' be enough for us? What do you take us for?" He pulled out a little piece of paper from his pocket and showed it to Shanks. "See this? I've got eight million beli on my head and I've killed fifty six people, so don't go trying to make a fool out of me!"

Delta strained his head to look at the bounty poster. On it was the name Higuma over his picture. _Ah, that's it_.

Ignoring Higuma, Shanks began wiping up the spilled sake with a rag. "Sorry Makino. I'll clean this up for you."

Higuma's face twitched in irritation. Spurred on by his laughing crew, he pulled out his sword and swiped at the bar top, smashing another five or

six bottles around Shanks. "If you like cleaning so much, why don't you clean up this mess?" He laughed cruelly, "Come on boys, let's get out of here. These pirates are just too pathetic for me to even look at."

The moment the bandits exited the building, the entire bar fell into roaring laughter.

"Did you see that?" Yasopp laughed, "Captain got soaked!"

"They sure got you captain!" Lucky Roo agreed.

Shanks for his part sent a wide grin before getting back up onto the stool. And Delta watched as Luffy, just as he had done, called them out for being cowards and not fighting back. Shanks explanation of why they did what they did hadn't been enough to sate Luffy's anger towards his new friends, and he marched off.

To really get things going, Delta grabbed Luffy's hand as he walked away under the guise of trying to stop him. Luffy didn't notice and kept walking, even as his arm stretched out before everyone's very eyes.

"Luffy!" Shanks roared.

Luffy turned, still angry. "Wha-" His eyes fell upon his elongated arm. He screamed.

At the same moment, Lucky Roo, holding an empty chest, yelled, "Captain! The devil fruit! It's gone!"

"Luffy!" Shanks yelled again, running up to the boy amid the wildly screaming pirates. "Do you know what you just did? You just ate a devil fruit! It turned you into a rubber man and you'll never be able to swim! You idiot!"

"I thought it was dessert!" Luffy cried, "It tasted really bad, though."

"Now you'll always be an anchor, and you can't even touch the ocean ever again!"

Luffy screamed and ran away from the bar, stretched out arm flailing wildly behind him.

Turning an accusing glare on the Pirate King, Shanks yelled "Delta! You were supposed to watch over him! How could you have let this happen!"

Delta just shrugged. "To me, some things are just fated to happen. You can't force everything to go your way."

"But now, Luffy's life is ruined!"

"Don't be so melodramatic. I'm sure he'll be fine." Not waiting for a response, Delta left the bar and made his way to the forest. This was going to be a very important moment and he didn't want to be there to possibly screw it all up.

Just to be on the safe side, Delta waited in the forest for an entire day, eating about five random pigs he'd found for dinner. It wasn't very good, but it was enough to keep going well enough.

The next afternoon, Delta walked back into town to see if everything had gone down as it should have. Yes, it was sad that Shanks had to lose his arm, but it hadn't seemed to hinder the man too much the first time around.

Sure enough, Delta walked into the bar and saw what felt like a flashback to the past. An armless Shanks was slouched on a big comfy chair in the corner of the bar as Makino treated to his needs in any way she could. Surrounding him was the entire pirate crew and Luffy, who looked on the verge of tears.

Readying himself to speak, Delta put all of his acting practice into use for this very performance. It was his weakest skill by far and he had put a lot of time and effort into changing that. "Shanks!" He yelled, rushing toward the crowd of pirates. "What happened to you?"

Chuckling, Shanks reassured, "Don't look so horrified, Delta. It's just a flesh wound."

"What- why- how did this happen?"

"That bastard bandit took Anchor. I was just getting him back, and there was a little scuffle between me and a Sea King. Nothing to worry over. You here that, Makino?" Makino ignored him.

Delta put his hands on his head in a moment of slight overacting. "The one day I'm not here, and this happens. What are the chances?"

Shanks grinned. "Just bad luck, I guess. Or what was it you said to me yesterday? Some things are just fated to happen?"

Delta cracked a weak smile in return, then turned to Luffy, who was cradling himself on the ground.

"Are you okay, Lu? They didn't do anything to hurt you, did they?"

"Shanks lost his arm because of me!" Luffy bawled in response.

"Oh shut up already, anchor," Shanks said exasperatedly as he lightly tapped Luffy on the head with his foot. "We've been over this. It's not your fault."

"But I-"

"Not. Your. Fault." He asserted, tapping his foot on Luffy's head with each word for added emphasis. "Got it?"

Sniffling, Luffy shook his head glumly.

Delta grabbed Luffy and put him on his shoulders. "Cheer up, Lu. It's not like being all depressed is going to make Shanks grow his arm back. Besides, it'll just make him look even cooler now when he kicks ass." Luffy managed a short laugh. "See, that's it! You got it!"

Beckman looked at the two questioningly. "I hadn't noticed it until now cause your heads are so close together, but you two look really similar."

Yasopp added, "He's right. It's uncanny."

And now was the time to make his new identity official. Delta smiled. "You didn't know? Lu and I are brothers."

Makino imperceptibly paused for a moment before turning and flashing Delta a smile. Luffy just laughed.

Shanks cocked his head to the side. "Brothers? But you two are so different. For one, Delta's actually strong."

Ignoring Luffy's indignant sputtering, Delta grinned. "Oh, I don't know. I think we're pretty similar if you look hard enough. I've just seen a bit more than he has."

Finally the dams broke. "Delta's not that much stronger than me!"

Looking up at the boy, Delta disagreed. "Lu, I don't know what world you're from, but you got kidnapped by a bunch of bandits these guys beat easily, and I could take this whole crew on easily and win."

Knowing exactly what it was he'd said, Delta smirked. Sure the Red Haired Pirates were powerful now, but they were no Yonko crew yet. Shanks was closer to the level he was at right before he'd trained with Rayleigh for two years.

"Did you just say what I think you said?" Lucky Roo intoned.

"I think that was a challenge." Yasopp concurred.

"Definitely a challenge." Beckman agreed.

Shanks laughed. "Let's go, right here and right now!"

"You most certainly will not!" Makino exclaimed. "You just lost your arm! You will not be fighting anyone, much less Delta today!"

"Are you suggesting that he could actually beat us?" Shanks asked with faux hurt.

"Honestly I don't care. But it doesn't matter, you will not be fighting either way."

Delta laughed. "I guess we'll have to postpone this for a later date, then. I don't want to make this too easy on me and have you guys lose because you were missing your captain."

The crew growled at him. Luffy laughed. "I told you! Delta's the strongest guy I know!"

"But Anchor!" Shanks whined, "I saved your life! Doesn't that count for anything?"

Luffy pondered that for a moment. It was strange seeing Luffy ponder anything. "Saving my life made me forgive you for all the mean things you've said until now. That's all it'll do for you."

"He sure got you, captain!" Lucky Roo shouted in glee.

"Who knew Luffy was so sharp?" Yasopp asked jokingly.

As the crew laughed, Delta calmly pointed out, "Shanks bandages are falling off."

And all hell broke loose. And Luffy just kept on laughing.

-o0O0o-

The day had finally come. The Red Haired Pirates were sailing out in the afternoon, so this would be their last chance for a long while to do this. Shanks had recovered fairly well and had begrudgingly gotten Makino's approval to participate.

So there they were, out on a wide, open field beside Foosha. Delta on one side and the Red Haired Pirates on the other.

Out on the sidelines were Luffy and Makino, the former cheering wildly for Delta.

"You ready?" Delta asked in the same way he'd asked Luffy months earlier. That just riled them up more.

"Damn right we are!" Yasopp shouted.

"Shut up, toothpick!" Delta shouted back, "I was asking your captain!"

Shanks smirked. "Yeah, we're ready."

"Then three… two… one… go!"

The pirates charged. Delta held in a sigh. He didn't want it to be too easy. Then he realized he was getting kind of cocky. Then he used shave to get in between the band of pirates and used one haki infested punch to knock out five of the crew in one go. It kind of looked like high speed bowling, with his black fist as the ball and the pirates as the pins.

This was when he realized that he had reason to be cocky. After throwing the punch, Delta soared out of the fray. "Wow, I took out almost half your crew in one go!" He taunted, "Looks like you guys are weaker than I thought!"

Four bullets sailed toward him with precise accuracy. Of course, the bullets would've just bounced off of him, but he was really trying to learn not to use his devil fruit all the time. So he jumped out of the way and landed on top of Lucky Roo's head. As the fat man tried to grab at him, Delta kicked off of his chrome dome and flew straight up, then brought himself back down with the force of an angry elephant.

"Roo! Get out of the way!" Shanks shouted in alarm, but not fast enough. Delta's fist caught him straight on, pushing him down with enough force to make him sink a foot into the solid ground. With that, Lucky Roo fell over, unconscious.

"Damn." Yasopp whispered, only heard by Delta through the use of his observation haki.

"He's not even trying!" Beckman yelled.

"How is he so strong?" Some other crew member asked a different one. Delta kind of felt bad for not knowing their names, but he didn't really remember them so the probably didn't last long enough to join Shanks' Yonko crew. Ergo, they didn't matter.

"Come at me!" Delta yelled.

"Don't be rash," Beckman advised the remaining crew members, "He's tough, but we can take him."

Shanks pulled out his sword. "Beckman, on three." The first mate nodded, "One, two, three!"

They charged Delta, swords raised.

"Black Puma Dagger!" Beckmann roared as his sword seemed to glow black and grow to the point where it looked almost ridiculously long.

At the same time, Shanks cried, "Inferno Blade!" and jumped into the air above Beckman, spinning his sword around so fast that it caught fire.

It would have looked mighty intimidating if Delta hadn't already witnessed the two fight at Yonko levels. Compared to that, this looked positively juvenile.

Delta grinned, pulling a blackened arm back in order to intercept the incoming blades.

It worked. With timing so perfect that it could only be done by someone of the Pirate King's skill, Delta thrust his fist forward and hit both blades in the same strike, breaking both of them in two. With his other arm, he sent a wild fist right into Shanks scarred face, sending one of his favorite people in the world flying backwards. With his left leg, he tripped Beckman, who was still in shock over his broken sword, and swiftly kicked the downed man into Shanks.

Delta jumped backwards, avoiding yet another shot from Yasopp. Ignoring the man for the moment, Delta ran forward at superhuman speeds, cracking down on the entire remaining crew members until it was only him and Yasopp left.

He dodged yet another round of bullets as he slowly made his way over to the sharpshooter. Over and over, he would just barely dodge while taking calm, deliberate steps toward the man. It was slow, steady, and totally made worth it when Delta dodged a bullet at point blank range and grabbed the gun out from Yasopp's hand. He tossed it off to the side uncaringly.

"You're a monster." Yasopp whispered.

"It's the best way to live, toothpick." Delta whispered right back.

Suddenly, Yasopp grinned. Delta saw it coming through his haki, but just for some extra fun, let it happen.

Behind them, Lucky Roo, who had woken from his unconscious state, grabbed the fallen gun and had it pointed right at Delta.

"Bang." whispered Delta to Yasopp as Roo pulled the trigger. Under his thick coat, the two pirates were unable to see the bullet bounce into him, but they definitely saw it go flying back out and soar right past Lucky Roo's head.

"How…?" Yasopp asked in a barely audible whisper.

Delta smirked. "I forgot to tell you guys, but I ate a devil fruit." He then punched Usopp's father in the stomach and knocked him out cold. "Also, I win."

"Woo hoo!" cheered Luffy as Makino clapped politely, "Delta won!"

"Of course I did."

Once the pirates recovered from their battle with Delta, they readied themselves to ship out of Foosha. Delta helped to move some of their assorted boxes onto the ship. He and Shanks were at that moment setting down a couple boxes on the lower deck.

"You're pretty strong, Delta." Shanks complemented, grinning. "I really didn't expect you to win so easily. Only the strongest people around could have done what you just did."

Delta shrugged. "Then I guess I'm one of the strongest guys around."

"See, but that's the thing." Shanks said, turning oddly serious. "If you're this powerful, how come I've never heard of you?"

"I haven't been doing much recently." Delta answered easily.

Shanks shot him with a flat look, then sighed. "Fine, you don't have to tell me. It's your business, not mine. But I'm just saying, if I figured out this inconsistency of yours, it won't be long until someone else does too."

"Thanks Shanks, but I think I can handle myself."

The redhead laughed. "Yeah, I saw. I'm just pointing it out. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go say goodbye to Anchor."

"He really hates it when you call him that,"

Shanks laughed again. "I know!"

Climbing up the stairs, Delta entered the main deck and was greeted by cheers of quasi revenance from the pirate crew. He just waved and turned to look at the dock, where Shanks was talking to Luffy.

He couldn't hear what they were saying, but he saw Luffy cry tears of joy as Shanks picked up his straw hat and placed it on the young boy's head.

Delta turned and stepped off the ship, taking his place by Luffy as Shanks got on the ship.

"See you later!" Delta yelled.

"Next time I see you, I'm gonna be so much stronger than you guys!" Luffy roared.

"Sure you will, Anchor!" Shanks said sarcastically.

"And next time we see you, " Yasopp yelled with equal ferocity as Luffy, pointing at Delta, "We'll crush you in the rematch!"

"Can't wait!"

Luffy and Delta stood in silence as they watched the pirate ship sail away into the ocean deep. It was beautiful.

"Hey Del," Luffy said quietly, leaning up against his counterpart.

"Yes, Lu?"

"Can we go get some meat? I'm starving."

"That sounds like fantastic idea to me."

They turned away, back to Party's bar. The year of Red Haired Pirates in Foosha had come to an end.

Delta thought back to what happened next and a wide grin began to split his face, unnoticed by Luffy.

 _See you soon, Ace._


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

It was truly a gorgeous day in the past, Delta thought happily. As he laid back on the roof of Party's Bar, up and away from all the commotion of everyday life, he looked around and watched the clouds gently float through the air without a care in the world. The sun shone bright, breathing its light to the jubilantly green grasses and trees and bushes. It was calm. It was peaceful. It made him think.

He mainly thought about two things. The first came from the way in which the first sentence was phrased. ' _It was truly a gorgeous day in the past_ '. As time moved on and Delta grew older, it was slowly becoming harder and harder to keep referring to the world he resided in as 'the past'. Each passing day brought Delta further and further from his time as the Pirate King on the Thousand Sunny, sailing with the crew he had grown to know and love, and each passing day made Delta believe more and more that there was no chance he could ever go back to that.

It was a sad thought, but it helped Delta to move forward mentally and realize that he wasn't trapped in the past, but simply enjoying a new chapter in his already odd life. Every person he'd ever known before his unexpected trip had no idea who he was. They weren't the same people, either. They were all seventeen years younger and naive and held completely separate identities in comparison to the people he had once known.

 _Well, really they'd be fifteen years younger now, considering I've been in the past for about two years. But I'm also two years older, so I think that evens it out. Maybe?_ Delta sighed. Figuring out time travel time was hard.

The second thing Delta thought about on the roof of Party's Bar was much less philosophical and sobering, but of equal importance to Delta. He felt that it was quite simply too peaceful in Foosha Village, and he had no idea why. In the very back of his brain, there was some nagging feeling that something was supposed to happen today, but for the life of him Delta couldn't remember. It was infuriating.

"Get down from there, you little brat!" Garp ordered from the ground. "You have five seconds or I'm coming up there!"

Delta's eyes widened. His mouth curled into a slight sneer. He breathed deeply. He really wasn't surprised that he had chosen to forget this.

"Five!" Garp bellowed, "Four! Three!"

Delta sat up and slowly crawled over to the edge of the roof, reaching his head slightly over the shingles in order to properly take a look at his grandpa, just as the old man was about to yell the one of his five second time limit.

As soon as Garp laid eyes on Delta's annoyed face, his face turned to match that of the Pirate King. "Oh, it's you." He grumbled.

"Who were you expecting, a physician?"

Garp seemed ready to yell something snide back, but then his face morphed into that of confusion. "I don't get that one."

Delta sighed. "You know, because physicians inject botox? Which you need. Because you're old and your face in gross. ...Get it?"

Garp was silent for a moment. "Honestly, I expected better from you, Lucy."

Delta rolled his eyes. "Sorry for disappointing, but I wasn't expecting you so I had to think of something off the top of my head."

"You didn't know I was coming?"

"I think my subconscious purposely erased the memory because you suck so much," Delta explained, "I didn't want to think about you being near me."

Garp snorted. "That was a better insult than the physician thing, brat."

"I hate you." Delta whispered. Then he sighed and asked, "So what is it you wanted before we started this _fascinating_ conversation?"

"I wasn't looking for you, brat. I thought I sensed Luffy up there." Garp explained, folding his arms over his chest.

"Well as you can see, I am not Luffy so I'm just gonna' go back to where I was and rest, alright?"

"No, it is not alright!" Garp barked. "You are going to tell me where Luffy is!"

Delta frowned. "No."

"Yes, you are!"

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are"

"No, I'm not."

"Why won't you tell me where to find Luffy?" Garp practically growled.

Delta smiled innocently. "Cause' it's you. Duh." A vein bulged in the old man's forehead, and his teeth grit together to show obvious spite. "What do you need Luffy for, anyway?" Delta asked curiously, "And don't say any of that 'I want to see my grandson because I love him' crap. I already know it's a lie."

"If you must know," Garp ground out, "I need to speak to Luffy about his new living arrangements for the foreseeable future."

Delta stopped dead. He really didn't remember this event happening so soon after Shanks' departure, but it may have once again just been due to the foggy memories surrounding his early youth.

"Oh, right. Okay." Delta said with shocking politeness. Garp almost reeled back in surprise. Delta jumped off the roof, landing next to his grandfather. "I'll take you to him. He's off in the forest training."

"...to be Pirate King?" Garp guessed darkly.

"Hey, we've already been over this," Delta pointed out as he began leading Garp into the forest, "It's not my fault that that's his dream. You know Luffy's too stubborn to listen to reason." Which really was true, not that Delta had ever even thought of trying to change Luffy's dreams.

"Yes, I remember." Garp answered, still sounding suspicious. Rightly so.

They walked the rest of the way in awkward silence. They probably looked pretty strange, too. A huge man wearing a vice admiral's white marine uniform standing beside a scrawny guy in an unbuttoned cardigan, black pants, and a expensive looking black coat. One was the very epitome of marine-hood while the other's look just screamed, 'Hey! I'm a pirate! Come and get me!'

But neither attacked one another on their way to Luffy. Not once. And it wasn't because they didn't want to- they did. No, it was for one very simple reason that neither swung a wild fist toward one another.

Makino could be very spooky when she wanted to be.

"Oi, Lu!" Delta shouted, curving his hands around his mouth in order to emulate some kind of acoustic megaphone. "Your stupid grandpa is here and he has something very important to talk to you about!"

Turning slightly, Delta noticed that Garp was still watching him in befuddled annoyance, probably thinking about Delta's newfound helpfulness and trying unsuccessfully to understand it.

Delta tried not to vomit at the idea that he was in fact helping Garp, even if it was for the ulterior motive of seeing Ace sooner.

Only moments after Delta called out to Luffy, said boy bounded out of the forest with a huge grin on his face even though he was covered in sweat and grime.

"Hey, Gramps!" Luffy greeted cheerfully, going in for a hug. The act was painfully stopped when Garp's fist connected with Luffy's head, knocking the rubber boy backwards.

"This suit is white." The old man stated plainly, gesturing to his clothing with his hands. Luffy began to sit up, a hand placed over his bruising forehead. "White, Luffy. And you are mucky and disgusting. Those do not mix. Do you understand me, brat?"

"Yes sir!" Luffy boomed with a mocking salute. Delta grinned at his sort of protege. Luffy smiled back.

"Anyways," Garp growled, eager to bring Luffy's attention back to him. "Luffy, I have something very important to tell you."

"You're becoming a pirate." Luffy said, nodding slowly.

"What? No!"

"You're getting divorced." Luffy tried again.

"I'm not married!"

"You're getting married. To Delta!"

"No!" Both Garp and Delta shouted simultaneously. Garp wiped his face, exhaling loudly. "Stop guessing, brat."

Luffy went to say something in response, but was cut off by Garp, who put his broad hand over the boy's mouth.

"Li- licking my hand i- isn't going to make me l- let go…" Garp claimed, but his cringing face told a different story. It took all of two seconds more before Garp yelled in disgust and removed his now slobbery hand from Luffy's face. Garp went to wipe off the saliva on his suit, but then realized that he liked the suit and decided against it. The problem was that they were in a forest, which was severely lacking in towels.

Delta watched in fascination as Garp, unable to remove the saliva using any common methods, began flapping his arm up and down rapidly, getting so fast that Luffy was thrown back by the gust of wind the arm had created.

"Well now, wasn't that something?" Delta said smoothly.

"Shut up, Lucy."

"You know, I think we might be getting a little off track here." Delta mused. Moments later, he was forced to dodge an incoming blow from Garp. "Okay, you have got to calm down, old man."

"Luffy won't listen!" Garp barked.

Delta turned to Luffy. "Luffy! Listen to Garp!"

Luffy laughed. "Okay."

Delta turned back to Garp. "Go ahead."

Muttering incomprehensibly (though Delta could just _feel_ that the old man was insulting him), Garp looked at Luffy. "You're moving." He said simply.

"...Wuh?"

"Moving," Garp repeated, "M-O-V-I-N-G. Leaving somewhere to go live somewhere else. Getting a new home. Moving."

Luffy thought for a moment. "So I'm not gonna' live with Makino and Delta anymore?"

"Nope."

"But why?" Luffy whined, elongating the 'why' for emphasis.

"There's another boy who I have to take care of and I'm tired of having to go to two different places to see you two," Garp grunted, "It would be much less time consuming for me if you both just lived in the same place."

"But why can't this other kid just live with us?"

"His home is safer and more secluded."

"I don't wanna'!"

"And I don't care!"

"I don't wanna' move away from Delta!"

Garp seemed pleased saying this. "I'm sure you will survive without Delta always around you. It might even be for the-"

"Don't worry Lu." Delta said, cutting off the old man, "I'll be moving with you."

"You most certainly will not!" Garp shouted as Luffy cheered.

"Yes, I will."

"You don't even know where I'm moving Luffy to!"

Delta raised an eyebrow. "He's going to the mountain bandits over there," He pointed in the direction of his old home. "It's where Portgas D. Ace, the other boy, lives."

"How can you _possibly_ know that?" Garp growled.

"I followed you to the house a little while ago." Delta lied, "It's not difficult to sneak behind a hard of hearing old man like you."

"Go Delta!" Luffy shouted.

Delta smiled at the boy. "And don't worry, Lu. The house isn't too far away from Foosha. You'll still be able to see Makino and everyone else as much as you want."

Luffy smiled. "Cool! So where is this house, huh?"

"Follow me, I'll show you."

"What are you doing?" Garp growled, surprising Delta. He had almost forgotten the old man was there.

"Taking Luffy to his new home? Isn't that what you wanted to happen?"

"I didn't want _you_ to do it for me." He answered, spitting out the word you like it left a bad taste in his mouth.

"Well, sorry about that." After a moment, Delta turned back to Luffy. "Come on then, Lu."

"Stop!"

Delta sighed. "What is it this time?"

"Luffy isn't packed yet."

Delta paused. "Good point," Delta said, nodding. "Give me three minutes and I'll be back. _Shave_!" Faster than a bullet, Delta soared through the forest, deftly dodging the incoming trees with practiced ease. Invisible to the untrained human eye (which was everyone currently in Foosha) he exited the forest and moved through the streets of the town, finally pausing outside the bar.

He ran inside, passing Makino with a very fast, "Hello! Garp's here and Luffy and I are moving!" Not waiting for a response, Delta rushed into Luffy's room, quickly stuffing the very small number of possessions the boy owned into a small pack. Just as quickly, Delta sprinted out of the room and only had seconds to stop or he would have run into Makino, who blocked his way. Luckily, Luffy was very skilled and stopped with space to spare.

"Hey, Makino," Delta greeted hurriedly, "Look, I said three minutes and I don't want Garp to call me out on-"

"You're moving with Luffy?" Makino cut him off curtly.

"Well of course I am. I can't just leave that idiot by himself. He needs me. I'm not sure he could function without- oof!"

Delta was cut off again as Makino rushed forward and threw her arms around him, squeezing a little too tightly. Luffy awkwardly patted her on the back. "You okay there?" Delta gasped.

Blushing, Makino pulled back a little. "Sorry, I just wasn't thinking about you leaving so I didn't think to say goodbye. I've been spending time around Luffy all this week to get in some last memories, but..."

Delta smiled. "We're not going to be far, you know. Luffy and I'll still spend plenty of time around this place."

Makino smiled too, sniffling slightly. "I know that, but you know as well as I do that it won't be the same. I won't be waking up anymore to Luffy yelling in pain after trying to attack you in your sleep, or being forced to fix my windows after Garp throws you through it, or have to spend an hour getting Luffy in bed at night, or anything else I've gotten used to with the both of you around."

"All that sounds like we were just nuisances to you." Delta commented confusedly.

Makino laughed, and then the waterworks started. She hugged Delta again. "You were," She sniffed, "But you were the best nuisances I could've ever asked for."

When she finally calmed down enough to let go of the hug and not start crying, Delta spoke. "I promise that I will never stop being a nuisance to you," Delta swore seriously, "I promise that I will continue to break your windows and fight with Luffy at ungodly house. And Monkey D. Delta never breaks a promise."

Makino smiled, "Goodbye, Delta."

"See you soon."

"I'm sorry that I made you lose that three minute thing."

Delta frowned. "Three minute… oh!" He laughed. "This was definitely worth the loss."

With one last grin towards the green haired bartender, Delta sprinted through the building and shaved through the town and forest. But when he returned to the spot where he had left Garp and Luffy, they were nowhere to be found.

"Garp!" Delta shouted angrily. Not wasting another second, he shaved towards his old mountain bandit infested home.

By the time he arrived, Garp and Luffy were just getting there and Garp seemed to be in the middle of an argument with Dadan about Luffy's possible residence.

Bursting through the forest Delta roared, "How dare you, Garp?" pointing an accusing finger at the old man.

The conversation between the old man and Dadan paused, and Garp turned around with a slightly annoyed expression. "You took longer than three minutes."

"I know that, but I also know how long it takes to get here and the timing does not make sense! You should not be here yet! I'm on to you!"

"Fine. I left the moment you ran away. Happy?"

"No!"

"Who's the kid?" Dadan asked, staring at Delta.

"Just some brat named Delta. And yes, he'll be living here too." Garp answered.

"Like hell he will!" Dadan yelled angrily.

Walking up to the two, Delta said soothingly, "Don't worry about me, I won't be causing any trouble for you. I can get my own food, and I'll even build a house next to this just for myself if you want. I'm only here for Luffy."

"You may want to take him up on that offer." Garp grumbled, "The brats' obnoxious. He's…" Delta stopped listening. He had turned to go look for Luffy with his eyes, and had succeeded. And right next to Luffy was Portgas D. Ace, staring at the excited Luffy as if he were some nasty dead bug that needed to be scraped off of his shoe.

Delta felt his mouth go dry. He couldn't think, really. It had been so long since he had seen his brother alive (eight years to be exact), and it was one of the strangest experiences of his life. On the one hand, he wanted to go over and squeeze the living daylights out of the boy with a hug, while at the same time he felt like the boy was a stranger who just had a slightly familiar face. It had been seventeen years since Delta had last seen Ace's face as young as it was now, and he had been eight, and Ace had been older than him, and there were countless other factors that made Ace, well, Ace. This boy was a stranger. He didn't know this boy. But at the same time, he did. It was all very tough.

Which was why Delta just stood there, unmoving, staring. And that was why he didn't even think before whispering dumbly, "I would've thought Roger's son would be taller."

A fist collided with the side of Delta's face, sending him sprawling to the ground. "You _can't know that_!" Garp roared. "I get it, you know more than you should and you're probably some damn pirate, I get that. But _you just can't know that_!"

Groaning, Delta pulled himself up. And Garp looked intimidating. Delta, the Pirate King, was intimidated by his grandpa in that moment, and he suddenly knew why the old man was known as one of the fiercest marines in history.

To Garp's side, Dadan stood shocked still, staring at him with a new fear that Delta did not like being directed at him. Luckily, no one else seemed to hear Delta's faux pas, but _everyone_ had heard Garp's outburst, which was proven as a horde of mountain bandits came rushing out of the house to see what the commotion was. In front of the crowd, Luffy and even Ace were watching the development interestedly.

Delta slowly got to his feet, facing the seething Garp. "Calm down, I've known for a long time, and I don't plan to do anything with the information. Ever. I mean, I know Luffy's dad too, but have I done anything about it? No."

"This isn't the same!" Garp shouted. "It's not about the information! It's about the fact that you learned this! That means that someone _else_ knows, and that means that just about _anyone_ could know! Do you understand, Lucy? It's not about you! It's about the very concept that you know, and all that you knowing means!"

Delta rubbed his cheek lightly. "If it's not about me, then why did you punch me?"

"I hate you!"

"Ah."

"Delta, what do you know?" Luffy asked excitedly.

Delta shook his head. "Sorry Lu, but it's not my secret to give."

"But why?" He pouted.

"Not now, Lu. Not now." Delta turned back to Garp. "There's no way this information could get out. The person who told me has been dead for a long time, and he took this secret with him." Not totally a lie, Delta thought. Ace was the one who had told him, and the Ace that told him was dead, ergo he was telling the truth. Only, _his_ Ace did not take the secret down with him. It was actually the whole reason his brother had died in the first place.

"Are you sure?" Garp asked in response to Delta's claim, so serious that it gave him chills.

"Certain." Delta answered in an equal tone of finality.

Garp nodded. "If you're lying, I will kill you."

"Wouldn't expect anything less."

"I'm glad we're in agreement." The two nodded simultaneously. Garp turned back to the shocked Dadan. "Luffy will be living here or I will turn all of you in. Do what you want with Lucy, I couldn't care less. Got it?"

Dadan for her part just nodded numbly as the rest of the bandits watched in open mouthed shock.

"Good. I'll be off now, I have to…" Garp's eyes drifted back to Delta, "... _see some people about some things_."

Delta waved his goodbye. "Have fun with that!"

And Garp was gone. Dadan was still staring at Delta along with the majority of the other mountain bandits. As the commotion began to die down, Ace started to walk off and Luffy followed him.

"Thank you Miss Dadan for allowing Luffy and I into your homes. So if you'll excuse me…" Delta turned away from the house and followed the two children, ignoring Dadan's shouts of "Wait!" and other such things.

He was much too emotionally drained to deal with the mountain bandits at that moment.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Delta was surprised at how fast Ace walked. The boy was practically jogging.

And Luffy was actually jogging in order to keep up.

For his part, Delta kept a safe distance as to not disturb the two boys' conversation. Well, conversation wasn't a completely accurate description of what was happening. It was more like Luffy talking to Ace excitedly and Ace pretending that Luffy didn't exist. It would've been cute if it wasn't so painful to watch.

It was a good five minutes before Delta decided to step in. Ace had just begun to speed up a little and take some slightly dangerous detours to try and lose Luffy and Delta really didn't want his younger self to do anything stupid and die.

So he lightly sprinted to the two, catching up in a matter of seconds. "Hey there!" Delta greeted as brightly as he felt, which was pretty bright considering he was actually talking to Ace.

"Go away." Ace hissed, walking right past him.

Delta just walked beside him nonchalantly. "Wow, nice kid." He turned around. "Hey Lu, why are you trying to talk to this brat?"

"He's cool!" Luffy chirped.

"But I thought _I_ was cool."

"You are, but you're also old. Ace is my age!"

"No I'm not! I'm not a baby!" Ace growled.

Delta rolled his eyes. "It's three years, kid. You're basically the same age."

Ace clenched his fist. "Shut up!"

Luffy laughed. "Yeah! Shut up, Del!"

"Be quiet, Lu." Delta poked Ace on the forehead, making the boy growl. "And why don't you try and make me. Come on, you're tough, right? Big and strong, that's so you. I bet you beat up chumps all the time with your _awesome strength_. That's why you have no time for kids like Luffy. Is that it, toughie?"

"Shut up, asshole!" Ace yelled, punching Delta in the stomach. Delta didn't even flinch. Or move at all, for that matter. Even as the fist connected, He just smiled.

Rubbing his stomach, Delta said, " Ooh, that tickles. Huh, I guess I was wrong. You're not beating up anyone with attacks like that."

Ace stared at his reddening fist incredulously, then pulled back and punched again, harder this time. "Getting there." Was all Delta said in response.

Ace punched him again. Delta laughed. "Ha, I think Luffy could take you if you're really this weak."

"Shut up! That stupid kid could never beat me!"

Delta raised an eyebrow. "Prove it."

"Fine."

Luffy bounded forward. "I get to fight Ace? That's so cool! Now I'll finally get to win something!"

Delta laughed. Ace yelled, "You're not gonna' win, you stupid kid!"

Stepping in between them, Delta held his hands out at his sides and pretended to be the referee. "Alright, get ready to go in three… two… one… now!" He pulled out of the way as Luffy came charging forward.

Ace watched the boy and scoffed. That is, until Luffy kicked him in the stomach. Then Ace grunted in pain.

In return, Ace swung at Luffy and missed.

"What a shame!" Delta jeered from the sidelines, "I guess I was right! You are a weakling!"

Ace growled, and was then punched in the arm by Luffy. He gasped, clutching the bruising skin. He swung again with his good arm and Luffy once again evaded the attack.

"Are you really going to lose to an eight year old? _Pathetic_."

Glaring daggers at Luffy, Ace clenched his fists until they turned white and swung. It made impact with Luffy right in his face, forcing the boy back, though he didn't fall. Luffy looked up, but Ace was already rushing forward with a gleam in his eye. Luffy kicked at him sloppily and made contact with the other boy's shin, but it wasn't enough to stop the onslaught. Ace punched him in the face with one hand and jabbed him in the side with the other. Luffy fell on the ground. Ace literally kicked him while he was down. Then he kicked him again for good measure.

Breathing heavily, Ace turned around to look at Delta, who just watched on passively. Ace, under the impression that he had won, did not see Luffy get up and run at him. Sadly for Luffy, Ace did hear his footsteps. In an impressive display, Ace grabbed Luffy's incoming wrist behind his back and used the momentum to swing Luffy over his head and throw him to the ground. That time, Luffy did not stand.

Delta clapped lightly. "Impressive. You barely beat an eight year old. You sure proved me wrong."

Ace growled lowly. "Shut up. I won, didn't I?"

Ignoring him, Delta went on, "Do you know _how_ Luffy got so good for his size and age? He trained with me." Delta stared into Ace's fiery eyes. "I can help you be strong too, if you want."

"I don't need your help, old man." Ace said harshly.

"Oh, silly me. Of course you don't. You're strong. Sorry. I guess I didn't just see you almost lose to an _eight year old_."

Ace paused. He breathed in deeply, glaring at the ground like it's very existence offended him. His body flexed and unflexed. Finally, he looked up, steel in his eye. "Fine, you can train me." He bit.

"I see what you did there, and I'm not having it. Student insubordination is a big pet peeve of mine." Ace didn't respond. "Say it right, or I won't help you."

Glaring, Ace repeated, "Please, I want you to train me to be stronger."

"Better."

Ace breathed. "I have a request." He bit.

"You're not really in a position to be making requests, but proceed."

"I have this friend…"

"And you want me to train him too? Is that right?"

"Yes."

Delta pretended to think about it. "I don't know… maybe if you could bring me to him, I could see how strong he his."

"He's over here." Ace started to walk away, then turned when he realized that Delta wasn't following.

Instead, Delta was standing over Luffy, who was still laying on the ground. "Get up, Luffy!"

"But it's so comfortable here…" Luffy grumbled. Delta grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him onto his feet. "Gah! Fine! I'm up!"

"Come on, we're going to see Ace's friend." Delta turned towards their guide, who was staring Luffy with a surprised expression. "You thought Luffy was unconscious? Never. It would be an embarrassment if one of my students were to faint from something as mundane as that."

Glancing again at Luffy, the beginnings of a grin grew on Ace's face. Delta walked forward with Luffy trailing behind. "Now then, let's go see about your friend."

-o0O0o-

Luffy dragged his feet piteously and his shoulders slumped in defeat. "How much farther?" Though not unconscious, the attacks he had endured against Ace were starting to take their toll.

"Almost." Was Ace's clipped reply.

Delta grabbed Luffy and put the boy on his shoulders like they'd done when he was younger. "Is that better?"

Luffy rested his head on Delta's. "Much better."

Ace stopped walking, facing a rather thick, if unassuming, tree.

"So this is your secret hideout, I assume?" The boy nodded. "You know, when you said almost, you could've just said 'we're here.' That way I wouldn't be carrying Luffy." Ace just smirked at him before turning back to the tree.

"Hey Sabo! Get down here!"

A small rustle alerted Delta to the blonde boy hiding up in the branches. Then Sabo jumped down, landing lightly on his feet with practiced ease.

"Hey Ace! What took you so- oh."

Delta waved nonchalantly. "Hullo." Luffy lifted his arm in greeting as well.

"Ace," Sabo began questioningly, "Who are these people?"

"They're living at Dadan's with me now." Ace flicked his thumb out and lazily pointed at Luffy. "The scrawny one's Luffy, and the big one is…"

Delta smirked. "I'm partial to sensei, but you can just call me Delta if you wish."

Turning his eyes to Ace, Sabo queried, "Sensei?"

"I was getting to that…"

Delta raced up to stand beside his pupil. "But not fast enough, my dear student! As you heard, the name's Delta and your friend has asked me to take him on as my pupil. And he has asked if I would consider offering you a place beside him."

"Ace… what's going on?"

The fiery boy just sighed in defeat. "Exactly like he said. But he's really strong! He even taught the little kid on his shoulders enough to where he almost beat me!"

Sano didn't even try to hold back his laugh. "You almost lost to _him_?"

Indignant rage heated Ace's body so that a faint tinge of blushed coated him from head to toe. "He was kinda tough! Even when I knocked him down, the kid didn't even faint!"

"My punches are like pistols…" Luffy slurred from atop Delta's head.

Sano laughed again. "You lost to an eight year old!"

"Shut up!" Ace pounced on his blonde friend, pushing him to the ground to regain his lost honor. Ace seemed raring to keep at it, so Delta did the only thing he could do. He grabbed Ace's head and lifted him off the ground.

"Ow! Ow! Ow!" Ace struggled uselessly and grunted in pain as Sabo watched from the ground in sudden amazement.

"Rule one as my pupil. You will not start fights with anybody for no good reason."

"He was laughing at me!"

" _You will not start fights with anybody for no good reason_."

"Fine! Fine! Just let me- ow! Down!"

Rolling his eyes, Delta complied and let go of the boy, dropping him like a sack of potatoes. Delta then focused his eyes on Sabo. "So, you want to join my dojo, huh?"

Sabo shrugged helplessly. "Well, I mean I guess… If Ace is doing it…"

Delta scoffed. "If Ace is doing it? Really? Have you no respect?"

"Look, I don't know you-"

"So that's all it takes to make simple and total disrespect understandable? Not knowing someone? I'm ashamed that this generation has fallen so far."

"You tell him, Del…" Luffy mumbled. Oh. _Almost forgot he was up there_. Delta picked the boy up and settled him on the ground to keep him out of harm's way for what was coming next.

Ace, who had by then picked himself up from a heap on the ground, turned to face Delta. "Will you stop being like this? I just asked if you'd train him!"

"I still can't stand student subordination, you know." Ace stiffened a miniscule amount, "But this time, you may be right in stopping me." He turned back to Sabo. "Blondie, get off the ground. I'm going to see if you're worth my time."

"Okay." Sabo muttered, lifting himself and moving into a fighting stance.

"Now punch me."

"What?"

"Punch me. And don't make me say it again."

Looking at Delta like he was a little off his rocker, Sabo pulled his fist back and punched him in the stomach. Delta barely felt it. "Sloppy."

"What?"

"Can you not hear or something? I said _sloppy_. Again." Sabo did. "Somehow, you got worse. Again. Even worse. Again. Alright, a little better. Again. ...And you dropped back down to worst. Again. at least _try_ and make it hurt. Again."

It was tough getting Sabo to let loose and get wild. With Ace it was easy. The boy was basically a firecracker at the end of it's fuse. All it took were a few choice comments about an eight year old winning and he was gone, but Sabo was more cool headed than that. Always had been. He didn't let his anger control him like it did Ace.

Still, one can only take so many insults on their punching skills before they finally crack.

"Fine!" Sabo yelled, "You want me to make it hurt, I will!" He punched at Delta. The Pirate King moved out of the way.

"Tsk. Too slow."

Sabo leapt at him, an angry gleam in his eye. Delta avoided the boy.

"And to think Ace believed you could be taught. It's pathetic." He avoided yet another blow. "You're probably just a little rich kid, huh? Pretending to be all wild and fun loving, but really you belong in a house at a desk. 'Ts all I see anyway."

Yes, Delta knew it was a low blow, but he needed the boy angry.

"Shut your goddamn mouth!" Sabo roared, punching Delta again. Delta grabbed his fist and squeezed it.

"Or what?"

"I'll shut it for you!" Using the tightly held fist as leverage, Sabo kicked out and ran up Delta's chest, flinging his foot up and getting him straight in the jaw. Delta's head barely moved.

Delta laughed and released Sabo's hand. "Now that was a good one! Keep it up and maybe one day you can be more than a banker!"

Sabo rushed forward, eyes like a hawk. He pulled his fist back, readying for another attack. And as the boy finally got close enough to let loose his punch, he kicked out his foot instead, aiming for Delta's shin.

Delta inched the bare minimum he had to to move out of harm's way. "Also good. Keep it coming!"

And Sabo did. For the next five minutes the boy seemed to put every fiber of his very being into landing some sort of blow on Delta, not that he ever succeeded. By the end of it, Sabo was a panting mess and Delta was grinning like a loon.

"That's enough." Delta said, walking forever and patting Sabo on the back. "You did good."

In between deep breaths, Sabo argued, "I- I didn't even- even hit you! Not- not once!"

"You got me in the jaw that first time."

"Only 'cause you let me have it."

Delta hummed. "Maybe so, but isn't it a good thing that you didn't hit me?"

"Why- why would that be a good thing?"

"You've never been properly taught to fight before, right?" Sabo nodded. "And I'm fourteen years older than you and planning to be your teacher. And I wouldn't be a very good sense if I got beat by my student on the first day, would I?"

Sabo smirked hesitantly. "No, I- I guess not."

"And I'm sorry for all those things I said when we first started. You just weren't being passionate enough."

"It's all right." He paused, "So I can be your student too, right?"

"Yeah, o' course."

"Awesome." Ace breathed.

Delta grinned, turning to his other new pupil. "What is?"

"You! That was crazy! You dodged everything like it was nothing!"

"And with my training, you two will be able to do that too."

"So cool…" Ace and Sabo said in delayed unison.

Luffy jumped up from where Delta had set him down, looking significantly better after the short rest. "But first, lunch!"

Delta nodded. "I couldn't agree more."

"But what can we eat?" Ace asked. "It'll take forever to find some wild animal big enough to feed all of us and even longer to kill it."

Delta waved his hand. "Yeah… no." He stood up straight, stretching for the look of it. "Give me three minutes."

Ace raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Alright."

"Then just wait right here." Delta zipped off into the thicket of trees and bushes.

-o0O0o-

 _Two Minutes, Fourteen Seconds Later_

Delta was back, giant boar in hand. He grinned, lifting the thing over his head.

"Two minutes and fourteen seconds," He stated proudly to the group of children. "You may now bask in my greatness."

"I want to eat!" Luffy whined.

"Tsk. Be like that." He sat down, bringing the beast down with him.

"What are you doing?" Sabo asked.

Delta looked at the blonde incredulously. "What? You're not suggesting that I start the fire and cook the boar, are you? I caught it. And besides I am your sensei and I should not be doing menial labor for my students. Now chop chop!"

It was another fifteen minutes before a suitable fire was started to cook the meat, and another half hour before the boar was suitably cooked enough to eat enjoyably. Not that Luffy handy tried to start earlier, not even he couldn't swallow the taste of an uncooked boar. It was an achievement to his meat devotion that he got the boar down his gullet as far as he did, though.

"This is pretty good, Sabo." Delta said, taking another bite of his piece. "How'd you learn to cook?"

Side note: Sabo was the one who cooked the meat.

The boy shrugged. "It was nothing. All I did was keep it from overcooking."

"And you did that awesome!" Luffy complimented.

Of course, Delta already knew how Sabo could cook- he's learnt it in Goa. He was just giving him an in to admit his place of residence. But Sabo was apparently not yet ready to talk about it, which was fine with Delta. He wasn't going to force the boy to talk. Instead, he complimented him on his cooking some more, with Luffy moaning in approval every time.

And Ace for the life of him couldn't keep a straight face, grinning a little every time Luffy moaned in food based ecstasy and told Sabo how much he loved his meat.

Delta sighed. This was the mature comedy that eleven year olds enjoyed. _At least Sabo isn't so uncouth_ , Delta thought, looking at the top hat wearing blonde. He then realized that Sabo was just holding down his smiles, clearly better at hiding his thoughts than Ace. Delta sighed again.

"Oi! I swear I heard something!" An older voice shouted off to Delta's right, a little farther into the forest. He didn't know the voice, but apparently Ace and Sabo did; They had frozen in place at the sound.

"Hey guys, who's tha-"

"Shush!" That sounded, placing a finger to their lips.

Delta placed his hands up in mocking surrender. Turning his voice to a whisper, he asked, "What's up?"

"It's Porchemy." Ace said, also whispering. "He's a part of the Bluejam Pirates."

Sabo shifted in his seat slightly. "We… may have stolen some treasure from them."

"Pirates?" Luffy shouted. "Coo-" He was promptly shut up by the hands of both Ace and Sabo covering his mouth.

"Shush!"

"Okay, yeah. I heard it too." Another, more nasally voice said.

Ignoring the incoming pirates, Delta raised a brow. "What, so some pirates are after you 'cause you stole their gold? Wait a sec, I'll go take care of them."

"No, wait! They're…" Delta was already gone.

He remembered Bluejam vividly. Yes, that man's presence would forever be etched into his mind, but the rest of his pirate crew? No, they were just a bunch of background people to him. No one worthy of memory.

"I think it's coming from this way." The voice of 'Porchemy' commented.

And now Delta found them. He stopped abruptly to their left, but neither had noticed him yet so he took the time to see what they looked like. One was short and kind of scrawny- really a weak looking guy. Definitely nasal voice, Delta thought.

The other, Porchemy, was big and grey, with long light purple hair, gold hoop earrings, and a red shaggy rag that could possibly pass for a shirt. Delta paused. The guy looked vaguely familiar. What was it… the guy who tortured him when he was eight. That was it.

"Ohhhhh." Delta said as he realized who this Porchemy guy was. The two pirates turned to see him. Delta realized he had spoken aloud.

"Hey punk, have you seen two little kids- like this high?" Porchemy placed one of his hands up to around his waist. "One's got long black hair, the other's got a top hat? Seen him?" Delta didn't answer. "Hey shithead, In talking to you. Hey, what are you doin-" A haki infused fist to the jaw sent the man sailing through three trees. Nasal voice man stood frozen, gaping in shock.

" _Sleep_." Delta commanded. Nasal voice's eyes rolled up and he fell over, unconscious. Without a second glance, Delta strode over to Porchemy, who was rolling on the ground and holding his bruised face tenderly. "So you're the child torturer?" The man moaned in response. Delta kicked him in the stomach. "People like you make me sick." To emphasis the word, he kicked the man again.

It wasn't that Delta was particularly vengeful, no. He had nearly forgotten the man even existed. He was just disgusted by the fact that this man had tortured a _child_ \- particularly Luffy. It was strange; when Delta pictured Porchemy torturing himself as a child,he could only see his Luffy getting hurt. Not himself as a child, but the child he had known for the past two years. And that just made him angry.

Delta grabbed Porchemy's shirt and lifted him so they saw eye to eye. "I really want to kill you right now, but I'm letting you off with a warning this time. You're going to leave the Bluejam Pirates and this island and then never let me see your face again. If you don't do as I asked, I will gut you. Got me?" The large man nodded timidly, staring with pure terror in his eyes.

Tossing the big guy to the ground, Delta kicked him in the head one last time, then turned back to Luffy and Ace and Sabo.

He really hoped that Porchemy would listen to his demands. For both their sakes.


	9. Chapter 9

**Short chapter, but it's been months and this is what I have so deal with it.**

Chapter 9

Delta placed his hands at his sides and shook his head. "Do it again. That was all wrong."

Sweating profusely and breathing heavily, Sabo and Ace looked at their sensei with pleading eyes. Ace grimaced. "But we did everything you said exactly! What did we do wrong?"

"Sorry, are you questioning me? Do you think I'm lying to you?"

They put up their hands. "No, no, no, sensei!" Sabo said, "Just wondering, swear! Come on, Ace, let's get back in position…"

Ace looked ready to argue, then took a look at Delta's face and thought better of it. And they did the whole drill again.

Of course, they really had done it perfectly that first time, but in Delta's opinion, a little repetition never hurt anyone. Little lies were just a part of his teaching style. And let it be known, this was his first teaching job.

After another two more rounds of their perfectly done training regimen, Delta decided the boys were done for the day.

They really were getting good, Delta thought as he watched two of his three disciples shakily walk back to their home in the woods. But then, they were skilled before he came along, and nearly a two years of training had only helped matters.

He smiled. When they were older, they'd be serious monsters.

"Tell me again why Luffy isn't here?" Ace said.

"Already told you," Delta said. "He needs to learn how to use his devil fruit better, and for that, he needs some serious dedication."

"Yes, but he already can use it!"

"Not well enough. We're going in intervals in his teaching. It'll probably be two more weeks before I'm satisfied for now. It's a difficult power to understand. Rubber men have it tough, it's not simple to work with like a fire fruit."

Ace grinned. "There are fire devil fruits? That's so cool! Way better than Luffy's shitty thing at least."

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure there's a unique devil fruit for just about everything you could think of."

"Like a rock fruit?" Sabo asked.

"Seen it."

"How about an ice fruit?" Ace asked.

"Seen it. And that's a good one."

Sabo snickered. "What about a fart fruit?"

"Aren't you supposed to be the mature ones? That sounds more like something Lu would say."

Ace smacked Sabo. "Yeah, what's wrong with you?"

"Shut up Ace," Delta said. "I saw you smile. You're no better. Just a little brat pretending to be an adult."

Ace's mouth dropped. "I did not smile!" he growled.

"Did too."

"Did not."

"Did too."

"Did not!"

"Oh look, we're back at the house."

Indeed they were. Beside the log shamble of a home the bandit's stayed in was a slightly smaller shamble of a home where Delta and crew lived. Nothing special, but it worked.

Inside, Delta warmed up some meat they'd cooked the day before as dinner for the three of them. He'd get some for Luffy whenever he got back. They ate quietly, Ace and Sabo too tired from practice that day to make much conversation. Delta was okay with that.

Then they went to bed. Or Sabo and Ace did. Delta always liked to stay up till Luffy was back to make sure he was safe. Call it his motherly worrying side.

But then he heard muttering coming from the boys' room a little while later. Strange, usually they were fast asleep by then.

He knew he shouldn't have but curiosity got the better of him and before he knew it, he was at their door, listening in. He was snooping. On children. What had he become.

"How can you talk back to him like that?" Sabo asked.

Ace said, "I don't know, I just do… how can't you?"

Sabo's voice was empty. "He scares me."

"What?"

"No, I like him. He's great. He's the best teacher in the world, but… Bluejam."

They were silent for a moment too long.

"Yeah," Ace finally responded.

"That anger, that rage," Sabo said.

"That power." Near awe in Ace's voice. But also fear. More hidden than Sabo, but not invisible.

For Delta, it was like a punch in the gut.

"I think you just have to get past that," Ace said. "Remember, he did what he did to help us. He would never hurt you."

"Yeah, I know that. But it's hard. It was just so… much. Makes me feel like he's some volcano, always on the brink of explosion."

"Maybe skip a few lessons?" Ace offered. "Say you're sick of something, to get some time away from him."

"Maybe… good night, Ace. Thanks for listening."

"Anytime."

Delta walked away from that, wanting to throw up and hit himself for going against his better judgment and listening to a private conversation. Sabo was scared of him? It hurt. And not because he liked his Sabo of the future like a brother, no, four years in the past had taught him more and more to treat them all like the different people they were. It hurt because he was supposed to be a mentor, a teacher to help these kids become the power they were meant to be. He loved them. God, he was a mess.

Bluejam was an accident and mistake; a bout of anger from nearly six months ago taken to the very extreme. He'd almost forgotten about it, the kidnapping, the fire, and when he realized how it had played out the first time- Sabo losing his memories while everyone thought he died, he couldn't control himself.

People still sometimes found pieces of the pirate in random places to this day.

But he never realized how much he'd traumatized Sabo, and even Ace to an extent. Who knows what he'd done to Luffy, significantly younger than the others.

The front door opened. Luffy was back. He couldn't think about it anymore. Later.

-o0O0o-

Five days later, Delta had come to a decision. Only time would tell if it was the right one. He'd already talked it out with both Dadan and Makino, so he was good there. The boys would be fine. He had a small boat made for him out of Foosha Village, and a supply of food and water.

Like Ace said that night, maybe they just needed some distance to get over this mental hurdle.

Now he just had to tell them.

"You're what?" Luffy yelled. "No!" Tears brimmed in his eyes. Delta had to look away.

"Time to see the world and all that," Delta said. "Plus it's only for, say, a year or two. You'll survive."

"I don't wanna' survive! I wanna' be with you! Let me come with!"

"Not this time, Lu."

Ace breathed hard. "What about our training? You're just gonna' stop?"

"You guys know what to do. Even now, I'm basically glorified supervision."

"That's not true and you know it!"

"Now's not the time to be getting nice on me, Ace. You'll make me change my mind."

"Don't stop, Ace!" Luffy cheered. "We love him! Make him stay! Make him stay! Make him stay!"

"Shut up, Luffy!" Ace yelled. "I don't give a shit about him, got that? It's his training I want, not him!" He turned. "You hear that, Delta? I don't care! Got it?"

Delta just smiled fondly. "Even if you don't, I'll miss you." He looked at Sabo. "You too."

Sabo looked unsure what to say, so he kept quiet. He seemed so sad.

He was a monster, Delta thought. He turned around and made his way to the boat. "Don't forget my lessons! And keep your skills sharp!" He got in the boat, turning to his students. "You better be ten times better by the time I'm back, got it?"

"I'll be a hundred times better!" Luffy roared, huge globs of tears and mucus running down his face.

"Of course!" Ace said, almost challengingly.

Delta looked at Sabo. He seemed to be struggling with himself. Finally, his legs firmed and he shouted, "I'll become the best! Like you!" He was shaking.

"I expect no less," Delta said. "Well, see you boys later! I've got some errands to run! Have fun!"

And as he sailed off, listening to the crying shouts of Luffy, the angry yelling of Ace, and the voice of Sabo trying to calm them both down, he instantly regretted his decision. But it had to be done. For all their sakes.

Plus, for however interesting Goa was, the rest of the world was so much better.


	10. Chapter 10

**To a reviewer a while back who said Delta was a little white... have you _seen_ One Piece? Unless I'm mistaken, Franky, Zoro, Brooke... most characters have white names. Sorry, that just got me really worked up when I read it. No hard feelings.**

 **Also, please review. It makes me very happy and I'm sorry I never update.**

Chapter 10

At sea for weeks. Weeks and weeks. Probably.

The food was nearly gone, at least.

And all he'd found was water, water, and more water. And he didn't have a map, not that it'd help. He couldn't read maps.

Who's stupid idea was this, anyway?

He caught a flash of movement from the corner of his eye. In less than a second, his arm had stretched and rocketed into the ocean, grasping the fish like some overpowered fishing claw. He reeled in, crushing the life out of the fish as he pulled.

He winced. Constantly shoving his arm in the water was starting to get to him. So with one hand, he cut apart the little fish while letting the other arm lounge about, the sun slowly evaporating it's coating of water.

Delta popped the mostly rescaled fish in his mouth, swallowing noisily. Raw fish- not as good as Sanji's cooking, but he took what he could get.

If one doesn't puke, the taste is fine.

Such is the life of a poor, extremely powerful soul, lost at sea in the East Blue of all places. He'd made jokes of the kind before, but he really, really didn't want to die in East Blue, if only because Gol D. Roger had done it first. And Delta was no copier.

A news coo flew overhead.

"Oi!" Delta yelled, waving his hand. "Over here!"

Newspapers usually bored the crap out of him, but hey, desperate times.

The little white bird took a nosedive, easing off perfectly to land on the boat. In its claw, the paper. Delta reached out to grab it, only to be swiped at by a claw.

"Right," Delta muttered. "Payment." He tapped his chin. "Bird, I don't have any money…"

The coo readied to take off.

"Wait! Wait! Let me finish, I don't have any money, but come on, you gotta' be hungry, right? How about I give you a fish, right now. No one needs to know."

The coo, though easing its position, stared at Delta neutrally.

"Okay, I see. You're a tough one." Delta lifted his hands for dramatic effect. "Two fish." Its stare screamed bird annoyance. "Red fish, blue fish? Wait how about three? Four, no five!"

It was interested, he could tell. "Yeah, think about it, five whole fish, right now, for just one measly paper. You like that? Hm?"

It straightened its wings, finally nodding slightly.

Delta grinned. He activated his observation haki, directing it toward the water, and picked out the five closest, decently sized fish.

His arm stretched, much to the surprise of the coo. "This is gonna hurt," he muttered to himself. and he fired, snatching the five fish in a powerful strike by the way that only a Pirate King could. And as he dropped the fish to his feet, panting in hidden agony, he swore the news coo would've clapped had it had hands.

It tossed him the paper, scooped up the fish in its sack, and flew away.

Delta stared at the neatly tied news. His head dipped.

He'd just bribed a bird. He really needed to get out of this ocean.

-o0O0o-

Bore, bore, bore. What a waste of time. Newspapers sucked. Stupid stuff like, Morgan Takes Over as Head of News, and Water 7, Pirate Haven?

Lame. Guess it's not really news if it's in the past.

He almost didn't even turn to the last page. Luckily, his ocean boredom outweighed his newspaper boredom.

And right there, waiting to be seen, was the childhood photo of Nico Robin.

DEVIL CHILD NICO ROBIN SPOTTED IN EAST BLUE!

The breath caught in Delta's throat. He couldn't take his eyes off the photo, even to read the article. Sure, it was her as a child, but it was Robin.

This was the first time he'd seen any sort of anything about his old crew mates since, well, when was he not in the past?

It'd been so long. And he hadn't so much forgotten what they looked like, but little things, like which eye Zoro had cut, or what type of brown Chopper's fur was, they were simply a wispy memory of a before time with no value in his current reality.

They, for all intents and purposes, weren't real anymore. Poof. Didn't exist.

But here was Robin the Archaeologist. Chased by the World Government, friend to none, sole translator of the Poneglyphs, and she was real. In East Blue.

Delta laughed, and laughed, and the laughter turned to tears because he had to remember now, everything he'd lost since coming back here, all the people who'd never met him, and the crew he would never willingly leave behind. He missed them. It didn't matter if it'd been years, they were his crew, and he'd never forget.

He read the article.

The final touches of red were about done fading from his eyes when he looked up. She was on Mango Island.

He didn't know where Mango Island was, but he would find if it was the last thing he'd do.

He tucked the remaining food he had on the boat into a little sack he brought with and pulled it over his back.

A determined gleam refused to dull as he shot into the air, boat cracking with the force of the air pressure. With speed he hadn't attempted in years, Delta soared through the air at jet like speed, refusing to stop until he found an island.

Lo and behold, with the distance he was covering in so little time, it didn't take long. He paused, looking down at the patch of land. Not enormous, but there was a pretty sizable town down there. Surely someone could direct him.

Delta dropped from the air a little out from the towns range. Wouldn't do to make such a freaky first impression.

As he walked through the town, something seemed noticeably off. Namely, there weren't any people to inhabit it. And yes, they were actually there, he could sense them all with his observation, but the fact that all of them sat locked away in their homes felt wrong.

Course, he'd seen this before. Either the marines were stationed here, or there were pirates.

He was surprised he hadn't noticed the presence of either of them when he landed, but of course he was in a weird state of mind at the time. … nine minutes ago. Maybe he was still in that state. Meh, it'd be fine.

He walked into what looked to be a restaurant, what with the chairs and tables and whatnot, but with a distinct lack of people. Well, at least a mustachioed bartender was still there, a food the room, behind one long table. Not that Delta drank much, but bartenders always seemed to know what was what, and info was currently his main priority.

The bartender had frozen at Delta's arrival, staring with nervous tension, polished glass in hand.

"Hello," Delta said. "You're not too busy, are you? I'm in need of some help."

"Who are you?" the man asked, rather neutrally, all things considered.

"Name's Delta. Now, I got a couple questions. First, do you by any chance know where Mango Island is? Or where I could buy a map? Anything really would help."

"You should probably leave here," the man said instead of answering. "But best avoid Mango Island too if I was you. I hear Nico Robin's been spotted round those parts."

"Well, if I can't stay here, and I shouldn't go there, where should I be?"

The bartender shook his head. "Wish I could tell you, but way I see it, this Pirate Age's gonna' last till there's not a one person without that question in their head."

"That's some pretty smart thoughts, guy."

"Terry, if you don't mind." He leaned down onto the bar, looking up at a clock over in the corner of the room. He sighed. "Whelp, some god must really hate you."

"Why's that?" Delta asked.

"Let's put it this way- there's no need for you to leave now, the danger's come to you."

"And what danger is that?" Of course it was pirates, but confirmation was key.

"It's high noon. Go outside, see for yourself."

Delta nodded, turning and stepping away. The door closed behind him, while he turned to the sound of increasingly loud chattery laughter, the only sound in the whole ghost town.

Okay, so yeah, pirates. Twenty or thirty at least, of all shapes and sizes, wielding guns and swords, ready to loot. And with observation, he saw a ship hastily anchored over at the coast. A few pirates were even still there, doing the finishing touches.

Ah, so that was why Delta hadn't noticed a presence. When he arrived, they weren't even on land.

He pulled his right arm to his torso and stretched. Time to beat up some East Blue punks, then off to Mango Island. Maybe with the pirates out of the picture, the town'd be more forthcoming with directions.

He walked toward the group until they finally noticed him. It took a shockingly long time for that to happen.

Delta sighed. He was in East Blue, he shouldn't be expecting even a modicum of real resistance.

The group stopped, staring at Delta for a long moment. He decided to wait it out, see if his visage intimidated them enough to leave, or if they all were truly as stupid as they looked.

Guess which one it was.

"Our first victim- er, I mean, taxpayer!" the short, chubby one in front guffawed, causing a chorus of laughter to erupt from the others. Shorty raised his sword. "You're a new one, I see. Well, beware the might of the Krieg Pirates!"

Delta's brow scrunched.

Krieg…. ? Wait, he'd heard that before… they were someone… someone weak… hmmmm…

His eyes widened. "You mean big lips, purple hair?" That guy had been around this long?

"Don't mock the Don like that!" Shorty shouted. "He's the most powerful man in East Blue! With a ten million beri bounty, he makes the very sea tremble!" The crew continued shouting and stomping in agreement. A real raucous, really.

"Um… okay. Well, would you all leave please? I need some help and you're scaring these people. And if you don't, I'll have to kick the crap out you, and you don't want that, so…"

Shorty, the only one Delta even cared to look at, glared. "I don't cares if he's a taxpayer, kill 'im."

They charged.

-o0O0o-

BEEP BEEP IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: THE BATTLE WAS SO LAME THAT IT'S NOT EVEN WORTH WRITING. AND ONCE DELTA FINISHED WITH THEM, HE WENT TO THE SHIP, BEAT UP THE OTHER PIRATES, AND SUNK THEIR SHIP WITH ONE FIST. SO AFRAID, THE PIRATES TOOK A TINY LIFEBOAT AND ALL PILED INTO IT IN ORDER TO ESCAPE. BEEP BEEP ANNOUNCEMENT OVER.

-o0O0o-

Well, that wasn't at all interesting, Delta thought as he walked back to the town. Standing outside, staring with wide eyes, was Terry. And a bunch of assorted townsfolk.

"What are you?" Terry asked in awe.

"Delta, the pirate. But see, I'm a good pirate. Not a hero, but a good pirate." He laughed. It felt good. He really didn't laugh enough anymore. He used to be so chipper.

"You know Terry, you seem tough. You should be a good pirate too. The Mustache Pirates, with you as captain, sailing the high seas, drinking as much as you want and doing whatever you want. I see it."

Terry looked away, a speculative look on his face.

To the rest of the growing crowd, Delta yelled, "Hey! Does anyone know how to get to Mango Island? Maybe a map? Maybe someone who can read maps?"

As the crowd began yelling various answers simultaneously (how unhelpful), Terry placed his arm on Delta's shoulder. "If you're a pirate, that mean you have a crew?"

Delta smiled softly. "Used to. Now, it's me, myself, and I."

"Got a ship?"

"Used to. But I had to ditch it, and flew the rest of the way here."

Terry's mustache twitched. He ignored that last bit.

"Lucky you, I got a ship an a bit o' map skill myself. If you want, I could get you to Mango."

"Sounds like a plan. But seriously, you're not joining my crew. You gotta' make one yourself. Later, obviously."

Terry frowned. "I didn't ask. And you don't have a crew."

Delta grinned. "Exactly. And, at least for now, I'm keeping it that way." He turned away, walking dramatically down the street. "Still, doesn't mean I can't have a temp or two."

"You're going the wrong way," Terry called.

Oops. Delta turned around to find that everyone was watching him. "I'll follow you then."

"Sure you don't want to stay for the night?" He jabbed a thumb at the crowd of excited folks behind him. "Way it sounds, there's'a be a party tonight, what with the pirates gone and all, and you could be the guest of honor."

Delta shook his head. "No can do. I really do have to be at Mango as soon as possible. I'm meeting someone there, but I really don't know how long they'll stay there."

"Nah, I gecha," Terry said, waving his arm. "Let me just grab some of my good stuff and we'll be off."

A few minutes later, Terry walked out of his bar with a sack full of what looked like bottles and bottles of alcohol.

"And what's in the bag?" Delta asked.

"Essentials. Clothes, some water, bit o' food, and a couple bottles of liquors."

Delta sniffed. "I can smell the alcohol from here."

"Tad more than a bit, then." Terry began to walk off. "You need to be there soon, right? Then let's go!" He laughed.

It was a fishing vessel, vastly bigger than his old boat, not that that was much of an accomplishment. It even had four hammocks below deck.

"Pop used to be a fisherman, taught me everything about sailing I know. When he passed, he passed it on, and here it's sat ever since." Terry gently stepped onto the boat, causing it to moan out a creak. "I don't use it much, so be careful walking about. Who knows if one of these beams have gone weak after so long."

Yeah, it wasn't a great ship. Nothing like the Sunny whatsoever, or even the Merry. Not even close. But it had charm. And he was sailing with Handlebar Terry, future pirate extraordinaire, towards Mango Island to find Robin.

Delta laughed again for a good long while. And he really didn't laugh enough anymore. Maybe he could change that.

Terry stood at the helm, gripping the old wheel in his hands. "By my estimate, we'll be at Mango Island in, dunno, half a day maybe? Bit less?"

Delta's eyebrows shot up. "We're that close? Awesome!"

Terry chuckled. "I said earlier a god must hate you. Maybe I was wrong."

Delta laughed again. It was such a good feeling. "Maybe."


	11. Chapter 11

**I'm on a kick and don't feel like stopping yet. It's a good feeling.**

Chapter 11

Fun fact of the day: Delta always loved the sea, even before he had left Goa the first time. The breeze, tye bright glisten of the water- all of it. Which made it all the more ironic (is this correct usage?) that his devil fruit, the item from which he gained all his power to travel the seas as he pleased, also made it so that he could never touch it.

Or, at least, without losing all of his strength. And since he ate the fruit so early in his life, he didn't even have so much as a fond memory to look back on.

Sometimes life wasn't fair.

A similar thing was occurring now, though slightly more serious, and a hell of a lot more emotionally impairing.

Being thrown into the past sucked, but it had now been something like three, four years, and he had come to accept the sad fact that he may never see his crew again. Acceptance was really the only way he would ever move on.

But here's where it gets tough to think about. Now, on his way to Mango Island, Delta was the most excited he'd been in most likely his entire life- and he'd been pretty damn excited in his younger days. And he couldn't stop laughing constantly. Really, Terry must've been regretting his decision to come along. Probably thought Delta was some sort of psychopath or something.

And at the moment, Delta couldn't find it in himself to care. This is the conundrum. He never wanted to leave his crew and life as the Pirate King, but this was probably the best feeling he'd ever had in his life. Like drugs, but natural, and better.

"How far off are we?" Delta asked, scanning the horizon.

"I jus' told ya, we're close," Terry said, taking a swig of his brew.

"But how close is close? Close-close, or cloooose? Or, like, close?"

Terry blinked a couple times, then looked down at his bottle. He shook his head, dropping the bottle. "Close," he repeated, slower.

Delt grumbled. "And it's straight ahead?"

"Yup."

Delta placed his hand to his chin, frowning. "You don't need me to park, right?"

"Uh… no? What do you-"

Delta didn't hear the rest of Terry's sentence, as he'd burst off the boat and into the air, careful not to break the deck, chasing the sun as he geppoed straight ahead at lightning speed.

Actually, scratch that thing he was thinking at the beginning. This feeling, if anything, was too good. If he didn't calm down from the high soon, who knew what would happen.

Aaand he'd spotted, stopped above, and dropped onto Mango Island. He looked down at his nonexistent pocket watch. Thirty minutes, more like thirty seconds! Ha! Delta did feel a little bad for abandoning Mustache Terry, but he wasn't certain he could last another thirty minutes in wait. His heart was pounding too fast.

He looked around at his surrounding. Beaches and palm trees, nice. And a whole bunch of mango trees. He stretched his arm to grab a few. He squeezed them. They weren't ripe. Delta shrugged, tossing a couple in his mouth. Oh well.

Now that his hunger was temporarily sort of sated- because would he ever not be hungry- it was time to find Robin. He reached out with his Observation, only to find a lot of people spread out all over the place.

Okay, so Mango Island was big. He could deal with that. Robin was strong, her aura had to have a pretty distinct signature when compared with most people, even if she was… a little math… twenty two. Holy shit. Nico Robin, the adult, was twenty two. And he was twenty seven. He, Monkey D. Delta, was five years older than Robin.

He grabbed his head to keep it from spinning and swallowed. From reading the news, to meeting Terry, to sailing all the way here with the picture in hand, it hadn't occurred to him. He was so stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Of course she wasn't the Robin he knew and loved. This Robin was just a kid, alone in the world. This Robin hadn't turned herself into the World Government to save him, or joined the Revolutionary Army during their two year break. This was Robin… but it wasn't.

It wasn't her. It wasn't.

A tear dropped from his eye, sliding down his check and dropping off, hitting the sand below with nary a sound.

This was what he got, no, this is what he deserved for getting so excited. What was he gonna' do anyway, run up, hug her, and say, "Hi Robin! I've missed you so much!"

Yeah, that would work. Right before she tries to kill him and the marines show up to arrest her, because of course she was in hiding now that her location had been leaked. Still, she had at least a few days before any marines with actual skill showed up. They were in the East Blue, after all.

Head hung in defeat, he started to walk forward, aimlessly going wherever his feet would take him. He hadn't yet given up on finding Robin, but a lot of that ballooning excitement had deflated.

Get it, balloon? Cause he's a rubber man? And he blows himself up? Right? Ha ha?

From how he was sensing it, there were three major towns on Mango Island, and he'd have to check each separately. To search out Robin from his position, taking in every single person in that big of a radius, with only her stronger than average power to differentiate from all others would be near impossible, even with the skills of a Pirate King.

If there was one thing Delta could give Mango Island credit for, its architecture was very nice and fancy. Not in the classical rich parts of Goa type of fancy, but in a more modern, beach time Sabaody way. Yes, it was a very nice high class isle of East Blue, which of course meant that the people sucked.

As he walked into town- no more like city number one on his list, it immediately bombarded him with a storm of pomp and unearned superiority complexes. Made Delta want to gag. But no, Robin was possibly here and he couldn't give up that easily.

So he kept his face blank and walked forward, reaching to every nook and cranny of the city for any sign of Robin, ignoring all the judgy stares at his attire and countenance. Easy to say, he would take a fight over dealing with the wealthy any day.

"Sir. Sir, have you seen that sign?"

Delta was brought out of his haki daze. He turned to the voice. "Sorry what?"

A large, bald, and burly man in a suit was glaring down at him. He pointed. "The sign. Read it."

"Hm?"

NO LOITERING

"It says no loitering."

"Good job," the man mocked. "You can read. So scram, if you know what's good for you."

"I'm not loitering."

In large, purposeful motions, the man looked all around the little area. Finally, he looked back at Delta. "Sorry sir, maybe I didn't look hard enough. Where are the items you purchased from this establishment?"

Delta glared. "Fine." He looked around. What store was he even in? Clothing. Okay, clothing. He could do clothing. He began walking away from the security guard.

"Wait, where are you going?" he asked.

Delta turned back. "Shopping, duh."

"Like you could afford anything here."

And this was why he hated rich people. Even their security was snooty.

"Oh yeah? Watch me."

Less than thirty seconds between that sentence and Delta realizing that no, no he could not afford anything in this store. Not his fault, who in their right mind would ever pay… thirteen million beli for a coat? Ever?

And that security guard was still watching him, a smug look on his face. Aargh! He didn't have time for this! He needed to find Robin, but then also, he really, really didn't want to lose this battle.

Damn it, he was petty. Using all the speed he could muster without destroying the store with air pressure, Delta checked each and every price tag in the store, until finally, finally, he found it.

For two hundred fifty thousand beli, on sale four times now, was a straw hat, covered almost entirely in a silky maroon wrap. He had no idea how a straw hat could be so expensive, but then nothing of the rich culture had permeated his mind in any meaningful way. It was still expensive, so expensive, but it wouldn't break the bank, so he picked it up, walked to the register while staring at the security, and purchased it. Not a word was spoken.

He put on the hat. Something about wearing this straw hat felt wrong. Really wrong. He didn't take it off, yet. He passed by the security guard.

"Hey," Delta said.

"Mm? What do you-" Delta punched him in the face and ran, gripping onto the straw hat so it wouldn't fall off. Off in the far distance now, the security guard called for a squad of marines to be ordered in.

Totally worth it.

Oh, and if he was a criminal now, then-

Delta ran back to the store, punching the security guard again, shot to the register where a woman stood frozen in shock, and took back his beri.

He was a pirate, after all.

Huge numbers of people had begun to walk out from their shops and homes to see what the commotion was about, a few pointing while another couple had transponder snails out, recording the whole event. And more importantly, his face.

Delta sighed. If Robin had ever been in the city, she sure as hell wouldn't be much longer. Taking one last look through his Observation, he realized it was a lost cause. With so many excited people crowded in such a tight area, no way would he see her.

It was time to move on to town number two. Since the island and its cities were so big, there was a good chance he wouldn't even be reported to the other two locations.

Which was good, because if he knew Robin, and he did, she would flee at the first sign of trouble. He just hoped she hadn't left the island yet after that news report. No, he couldn't think about that. Had to keep looking.

If the first city was extravagant, then this was just silly. Enormous gold lettering shone above all the tall buildings, reading out DICEN CITY: LAND OF DREAMS.

A bit flashy, but it wasn't all bad. At least now, he didn't have to keep calling it city number two. A quick scan of the area showed that Dicen City boasted a pretty large, pretty decadent coastline, covered from head to base with ships of all shapes and sizes. Perfect for any pirate trying to escape. Someone like Robin. He grinned.

And with all the security patrolling the docks, it'd take a while to plan out any evasion attempt. Meaning~ she was probably still here.

Dicen City wasn't the type of place he would usually go to if he were looking for Robin, more of Namiesque joint, but it made sense. With all the people, and more importantly, wealthy people, marines would tend to leave the area be and she could blend into the vast numbers.

Smart. Still, hard to hide when a Pirate King was following you, not that he was one to brag. One deep look into the city, and location acquired. Well, it was the strongest aura on the island, so he hoped it was her.

Considering it was in a spot right near the docks, he felt pretty confident.

He started walking toward the location, following his senses… and was tackled to the ground from behind.

"Target acquired!" someone off to the side shouted.

Delta twisted his neck to find a trio of marines standing over marines, and a fourth holding him down. That was fast.

"Get off me!" Delta shouted, roughly knocking the marine into his trio of compatriots. He ran.

"No! He escaped!" a marine yelled into his transponder. "We are currently in pursuit, south west side of Dicen! Target seems to be extremely strong! Calling backup; approach with caution!"

No matter, the four marines already lost sight of him when he threw himself into a crowd of tourist looking folks. Now, all he had to do was keep a low profile as he crossed the city, and it'd be fine.

"Hey! You're the guy from the video!" a little girl shouted, pointing at Delta. "You have a very pretty hat!"

All around him, people turned to look, eyes widening with recognition. Delta felt the top of his head, and sure enough, that silky hat was there. He must've forgotten about it in all the commotion.

The crowd slowly creeped backwards, to avoid him, the man from the… video? The transponder snails! They had his face on tape, and apparently it was popular. Well, that wasn't good for discretion. Delta sighed. No getting around it now. He was just gonna' have to find Robin as soon as possible, before things got too wild.

"Yep, It's me!" Delta said to the girl, thrusting his thumb to his chest. "Name's Delta! Okay bye!"

He ran. No, ran wasn't the right word for this sort of speed. He sorued, if that was a verb.

Somewhere behind him, an alarm started blaring. This was getting out of hand. He weaved in and out through throngs of people out for a day of fun and relaxation, causing wind storms in his wake. A human storm. Mass hysteria all around, and he arrived in front of the building holding the big aura.

It was a bar. Go figure. And a cheap one at that. Looking around, the whole area screamed wild west poverty. Like the classic shady city block right beside "insert any social hub here."

Course Robin would stay somewhere like this. Scummy thugs and pirates were her element. he pushed at one of the swinging doors, stepping inside. He ignored a pair of eyes to his side who'd watched him appear out of nowhere in front of the building.

Sorry, appeared out of nowhere according to their limited eyesight related capabilities.

The bar's inside was as dumpy as the outer shell would suggest. A light film of dust covered nearly all the furniture, and some of the walls had begun to rot. The whole place smelled faintly of mildew, which wasn't very comforting, and all the eight or nine patrons were watching him warily.

Except one.

Alone in the far corner, seated on a stool with her back to turned to him, was Nico Robin. It took all the self control he'd learned in his years not to immediately scream and grab her. She didn't know him whatsoever, and first impressions were everything.

Delta walked to the bar, each step louder than the last, until he was at the seat beside hers. Each movement he made was a dream, some surreal action that he didn't fully understand. He was sitting down now. She still hadn't looked at him, but he was looking at her. He couldn't, couldn't look away.

She was Nico Robin, no doubt. That slim face, those regal, apathetic features, were all trademark Robin. But at the same time, something was different. She was so much younger. And he felt so old for saying something like that, but she was. She was seven years younger than him as he was, and she looked it. Everything about her, thigh similar, was less defined, more childlike, at least a little, and it unnerved him.

He'd never seen Robin like this, which brought a bunch of other thoughts to spiral. The most uncomfortable was, what if he had seen her like this and simply didn't remember the specifics of her face anymore? Maybe after four years, his memory had rewritten her face a little. Just tiny minutia, but still.

"Can I help you?" Robin asked. At least her voice sounded familiar. Cold, distant, and polite, but familiar.

"Hm? Right, yes," Delta got out. "Yes you can, actually. See, I need your help."

"My help?"

See, Delta had actually been thinking about what he would do out on the open seas for a while now. Since he'd already found the One Piece before, and with all those adventures along the way and after, he wanted to tread into new waters. Funny enough, he actually was pretty sure Robin had the exact skill set to help him.

"Yeah. So I've decided to find the Sea Sea Fruit."

Robin looked surprised. She didn't look surprised very often, and it was only for a moment, but she looked surprised. She smiled. Fake.

"The mythical fruit, able to control the very sea that would kill all other users? That is quite the mission." Her eyes narrowed, just a pinch. "Apologies, but how is it that I can help specifically?"

"Well you can read the Poneglyphs, right? Way I figure, something as legendary as the Sea Sea Fruit has got to be on one of them, so I need you to be there to let me know. Who knows, might even count as the hidden fourth great weapon." He grinned. "So, what do you say?"

She shook her head. "Thank you for thinking of me, but I will have to decline for now."

"Aw, why?" Not that he was going to take no for an answer.

"At this moment, it is the fact that the marines are right outside, ready to arrest you, Delta, and I wish not to be in the crossfire."

Delta waved his hand. "Those chumps? I can beat those guys. More importantly, you've seen the video. Do I look good in it? Cool? And how do you know my name?"

"You told a little girl before disappearing."

"Wait… someone was recording that! Oh no! We can't let that video leave this island! Garp's gonna' be so mad if he sees it, and I do not want to deal with that."

Robin watched on passively as Delta fell apart.

"And how'd they even find me? I moved so fast, there's no way someone in East Blue could keep up with me! I can't believe this!"

"The marines followed the storm you left in your haste. It happened that the storm stopped right in front of this establishment, so here they are."

Delta's eyes widened. "Genius…" He was perplexed. "How do you know all this?"

"I've been watching one of the many news reports all around the city using my devil fruit abilities. I'm sure you know what they are, as you know who I am." Her polite smile never once faded. "I'm sorry to say, you've become island-wide news. If your goal was discretion, I believe this is what they call failure."

Delta dropped his head onto the bar. "I know. I'm so bad at that. Sorry Robin, that I lead the marines right to you. I'll beat them up, so it won't really matter, but still."

"It's quite alright."

"And you're sure you don't want to come with me? It's gonna' be fun! A real adventure!"

"Thank you for the offer, but-"

The doors were ripped off their hinges as a swarm of marines entered the bar. "HANDS UP!"

Delta smirked. Marines really were just so adorable, and it had been so long since he'd directly encountered any, (as the Pirate King, the new marines gave him a wide berth) Delta had mostly forgotten about their general presence in the world.

Always so high and mighty, always with the moral high ground, they reminded him strongly of a militaristic version of rich people.

But right now, he was talking to Robin and did not want to deal with them. Hence, Conqueror's Haki. When all the other patrons of the bar, save Robin, also fell unconscious, Delta realized he hadn't been focusing nearly enough. Great power, great responsibilities kind of lesson.

He turned back to Robin. She was staring at him in shock.

"Robin?"

Her face tried to resume its normal features. She got close. Seemed that a younger Robin hadn't fully mastered the neutral expressions of her more mature self. He liked her this way.

"Yes, Delta?"

"Sorry if this sounds rude, but you seem the type to be drawn to power, maybe because it's what keeps you safe and alive, maybe more. Along that line of thinking, I can honestly say that I am quite possibly the most powerful person you have ever met, including your Admiral friends."

The shock was starting to return, a tad. Nearly made Delta laugh.

"Yeah, I know about the Buster Call on Ohara. So what I'm saying is, well, ignoring my plan to find the Sea Sea Fruit, it would be safer for you to be near me than anywhere else in the world."

The smile had gone, her voice cold. "And why do you care about my safety?"

Delta sighed. "Tsk, can't tell you that. But I will say that I believe you to be very important, one of the most important people alive right now, and I believe you have great things to do in your life." A wistful smile crossed his lips. "Call me a good samaritan, but I trust my gut, and the hope of a better future is worth keeping you happy and safe at my side."

She looked nearly ready to accept his proposal. So close. And sure this was technically a form of emotional manipulation, but it was Robin he was talking about. He couldn't let her go. Robin would understand, were she here.

"Look, think about it like this. Whether or not I'm actually as strong as I say I am, you can still probably figure I'm more powerful than you, one on one. If I really had any negative motives, I would act. But I don't, so I won't. See?"

Robin's jaw clenched with a hidden nervousness. So close, so, so close-

"Alright," she affirmed. "I'll come with you. Where is your ship?"

Delta's smile was wide, a firm sideways D below his nose. He didn't remember that last time he smiled like this. Had to have been… nevermind.

He laughed. "Awesome! My ship is- my ship is, uh, hm."

"You don't know where your ship is?"

"No, I do, sort of. We were about a half hour from shore, but I was worried you'd leave and I'd miss you, so I jumped the rest of the way here, so… give me a sec."

He just had to find Terry. Terry would probably have docked a little while ago, and hopefully he hadn't left the ship. So far from any life on the coast, it would be easy to pinpoint him.

A pair of footsteps approached them at running speed. Delta looked over.

"Delta!" Terry shouted, gripping his knees, panting like. dog. "De- Delta! You have no idea how tired, an' drunk, I am! Why woul' ya leave me lie tha'? I've been all over this damn mango… tryin' a find ya! There's marines here, d'ya know?" He stumbled to the side, hitting a table. He grabbed it for balance.

"And yer' face, it's all over tha' island! Big, big ole, ole movin' posters showing yer face! It's all over. One of 'em saw you walk-in' in here, so tha's where I came! Here I a- a- a-" Terry's eyes bugged. He stage whispered, "Delta, don't look now, bu' Nico Rob's right next'a ya!"

Marines must be stationed all around the bar, why would they let him through? Unless, were they using Terry as bait? What a bunch of shits.

"Robin, do you know how to sail?" Delta asked.

"Well enough," she replied. "Why?"

"The drunk's Terry. Terry is my current navigator."

"Ah."

Terry fell over, unconscious.

"Did you use your… power on him?"

Delta shook his head. "Nope. He's just blackout hammered. I'll carry him."

"So if he's here, and unconscious…"

"He's the only one who knows where it is. Solution, get a new ship. Funny, there are a whole lot right next to us."

"Don't you have any belongings one's your ship?"

Delta shrugged. "Not a problem. I can go back and get it once we're out at sea."

Robin hummed in sort of understanding. "I started making a plan on how to bypass the security."

"No need," Delta said. "In case you've forgotten, there're a whole lot of marines outside waiting for us, and I doubt your plan incorporated that." He walked to Terry and flung the man over his shoulder. "Also, I am extremely strong, which can make plans much simpler in my experience."

Robin smirked. "Then I'll follow your lead… captain."

"Temporary captain, but yeah, I like the sound of that."

-o0O0o-

 **And for anyone who reads this, what's the ratio of boys to girls on the site, or this specific story for that matter? That would be interesting to see... Review please! I enjoy it!**

 **Also, to "Elena A. Grey"s question, um that's a spoiler I think? Yeah, it is. But I'll say one thing. He's most definitely not-**


	12. Chapter 12

**I still haven't quit. It's a party.**

 **Oh, and I've officially passed the point where if someone clicks " (greater than) 40k ", I apply. For some reason, I can't type in the greater than sign. Who knows why.**

Chapter 12

"You really couldn't have brought the liquor?" Terry whined, splayed out on the deck while Robin sailed.

After crushing the marines, they hadn't picked the nicest ship- that wouldn't be practical. It was much too large and decadent, not really built for a pirate crew of three who may or may not be in the Grand Line soon. Instead, they'd gone with a smaller, more easily maneuverable trading ship. Still not perfect, but better than nothing.

Once they were suitably far from the hellhole known as Mango Island, Delta had quickly returned, found the old fishing boat, and grabbed the essential items. He had left any and all alcoholic beverages on board.

One could not be a good seafaring captain if one was also a blackout drunk. Call it grooming for success.

"As captain, I am hereby enacting prohibition onboard this ship," Delta said, seated on a rather low crow's nest.

"Devil," Terry said.

Delta shook his head. He pointed at Robin, relaxed on a beach chair beside the wheel that they'd found in the ship's hull. "No, that's her."

Terry's face dropped to the side. "Right. Her. Explain to me again, why do we have Nico Robin on this ship?"

"She is important to me," Delta said. "And that's that."

"The captain wishes to find the Sea Sea Fruit, and believes me to be a valuable asset to the search," Robin interjected, tone cool and calm.

Delta could've slammed his head in the ground. She thought he was using her. Ugh. How annoying.

Terry nodded, still lying on the deck. "That makes sense."

His head rocked back to the ground. "Wait, we're searching for the Sea Sea Fruit? Wait, I thought devil fruits were a myth. Wait, Nico Robin, please don't kill me. What was I thinking yesterday when I joined this?"

Delta jumped down frown the crow's nest. "Yes, we're gonna' find the Sea Sea Fruit, and yes, devil fruits are very real. Robin's eaten one, actually. And she's not gonna' kill you. Robin is our friend." He looked up. "Right, Robin?"

"Of course, Captain," she lied. Delta held back from calling her out on it.

"See?" he said instead. "She loves you."

"That sounded pretty fake, Delta…" Terry said, lips pinched.

"Well it wasn't," Delta snapped. Why was he being so difficult? "Robin is our friend, has always been our friend, and that's that."

Something must have changed on his face, cause now Terry seemed a bit scared. "R- right, Delta. Whatever you say."

And now Terry's face was Sabo, a child so afraid of his existence that he left Foosha. Why was he doing this, Delta wondered. He'd left to change, become better, but all he could do was act the same. Maybe he was going insane. Maybe he already was.

"I- I'm sorry," Delta said, looking away. "I shouldn't have been so rude to you. Robin is our friend, but I should've have pushed that on you like that." He took a couple steps back to put some distance between them.

Terry sat up. "No, that's alright. You know, Delta, has anyone told you that you're scary?"

"Yes, actually." Delta nodded. "But I'm trying to change. For myself, and for my brothers."

"That's pretty admirable," Terry said, smiling. "Good on you." His smile turned lost. "You have brothers?"

Delta couldn't help a grin forming on his face. "Yup, three of them. Luffy's the youngest, he's nine. And Ace and Sabo are both eleven, but Ace is almost twelve. They're great. All of 'em."

Terry smiled along with him. "You know, this is the happiest I think I've seen you. Cause this is real, not that creepy, uncontrollable excitement you were doing on the way to Mango. It seems normal, natural, like you're a proud dad or something."

Delta laughed. "Yeah, sorry about all that before. This is just the longest I've been away from those guys for a long time, and it'll be a while before I go back. I think it's getting to me."

From up at the helm, Robin piped up. "If you love them so much, why would you leave?"

"That's a good question," Terry agreed. "Why did you leave?"

Delta plopped down onto the deck, criss crossing his legs. "Had to, for their own good. I was becoming a bad influence. They needed to learn good morals to live by- I wasn't the one to teach them, simple as that. Which is why I'm here, trying to learn them myself."

Terry looked up to the calm, bright sky. "Hm… one last question. If that's what you want to do, then why look for this "Sea Sea Fruit"? What does that have to do with anything."

"Oh, that's just so I have a goal in mind as I travel. I like goals. They keep me focused."

"Fair enough."

For a few minutes, they sat in silence, allowing the beauty of the still water and cool skies to entrap each of their minds. Tranquility, that's what he needed. To find peace. Easier said than done.

Terry broke the silence. "So where are we going?"

"The New World."

"The New World, okay." He did a spit take. Since when was there water in his mouth? "The New World?"

"Yup."

Robin even seemed a little surprised, but she kept quiet.

"Why?"

"I figure that anything as mythical and powerful as the Sea Sea Fruit has got to be somewhere extreme. And the most intense place out there is the New World."

"But the Yonko are out there!"

Delta shrugged. "I can beat a Yonko. Plus, only a couple of them are even that bad, so no harm there."

"No harm? Are you insane?"

"Sounds fun, Captain," Robin called. "But that may take a while. To get to the New World, we first must enter the beginning of the Grand Line, traverse the whole way, and come out the other side. That alone may take months."

Delta shook his head, chuckling. "You're well informed, dear Robin, but sadly mistaken. There is another way to get to the New World, and it's much faster, safer, and all around better."

Her interest peaked. "And which way might that be?"

His smile grew. "Cross the East Blue and climb the Red Line, duh. You scale it, turn right and walk for a bit, and then jump off. Simple."

Terry's eyes were pure white, and he spun unsteadily on his heels. "Can you please get rid of this prohibition? I need a drink."

"Tsk, Terry. It hasn't even been a day."

"Do you hate me?"

"I'm toughening you up. It's builds character."

Terry turned to Robin, face set in fear. "Please Robin! Say something about this!"

Her smile was the most real it had been so far. Made Delta's heart leap out of its chest. "I think it sounds quite interesting."

"See, Robin gets it! A learning experience!"

"I knew Nico Robin was gonna' try and kill me," Terry moped. "But I didn't know she would find such a cruel and unusual way of doing it."

"Shishishishishi!" Delta ran to the bow of the ship, striking a pose as he pointed forward into the far distance. "Onward and forward, Robin, to the New World!"

"Aye aye."

Terry dropped back onto the ground, all the fight suddenly out of him. "Well, whatever. We might as well find the One Piece while we're at it."

Delta looked out at the vast sea. "No," he said. "That's not what I'm meant to do." In a quiet voice, too low for the others to hear, he muttered, "I already did, and look what it got me." (Oof, how angsty.)

-o0O0o-

That pirate ship had been trailing them for at least a day by now, Delt reckoned. The thing was big and slow, so it had no chance of catching up as they were, but still. Why? Delta didn't recognize the ship, so it couldn't belong to anyone important, and the only people he'd dealt with at all so far had been the marines and- oh.

The Krieg Pirates.

Those guys he'd let run away with their tail between their legs a couple days ago must've gone and tattled to their big bad armador captain, ten million beri ruler of East Blue.

Delta barely remembered Krieg. He was a vague imprint on one day of his life in East Blue, ten years ago now. Or was that nine years in the future? Didn't matter; to his mind, Krieg was a blip. But the one part of that blip he remembered was that Krieg wore a suit made of gold. And the only type of person who would ever even think of doing something so stupid as that would be a pompous, prideful, prick. A.K.A, the worst kind of person.

A pompous, prideful, prick would never let something like a part of his crew being beat up by one guy go, so unless he dealt with it now, Delta was confident that the ship was in no hurry to let up on the chase.

He did give props to Krieg that he found him so fast. That was impressive. Probably did it with that huge armada of his, having them search for clues. Someone had to have seen the Mango Island footage, asked around, and learned in what direction they were headed.

Even if weak, an enormous crew can get a lot done in a short bit of time.

"I finally figured out who that pirate ship belongs to," Delta stated. He was seated cross legged on the ground beside Robin, who remained on a chair at the helm.

Terry continued to lay splayed out on the deck. Delta figured such a weird position was helping him cope with going cold turkey on alcohol.

"Who?" Robin asked. She was so much more talkative as a twenty two year old. It was fun.

"The Krieg Pirates."

"Oooh, that makes sense," Terry said. He then threw his hands over his face. "Aw man! We've got a guy with a ten million beri bounty chasing us!"

"And we have a seventy nine million beri bounty next to me, and me," Delta responded. "Calm it down, we'll be fine. That ship is so big, it will never catch up to us, anyway."

Terry was quiet for a minute. "That's good then. All we have to do is keep this safe distance and-"

"I'm gonna' go beat him up and take his bounty," Delta said resolutely. "I've never cashed in on a bounty before, but now's as good a time as any to start." He stood up. "Robin, stop the boat."

"Delta, are you crazy?" Terry cried. "What are you saying?"

"Terry, shut up. You are being obnoxious." Delta started stretching. "I don't think you yet understand how strong I am. Let me give you a demonstration."

-o0O0o-

Delta waited a little while for the ship to grow larger behind them, if only to make it more noticeable for Terry as she.

Robin would only ever admit this in the sanctity of her own mind, but she was quite interested in what the mysterious man who'd picked her up was going to do. She'd seen him basically fly now (with a technique eerily similar to that of CP9, forever sketched in her mind), and he'd knocked several people unconscious without touching even touching them, not to mention that he'd moved so fast on Mango Island that he created a wind storm.

Needless to say, the man was obviously extremely powerful, and not afraid to show it. She wanted to see what he would do next, what his limits were.

He claimed to be stronger than a Marine Admiral, even a Yonko. It seemed so far fetched, she'd have completely ignored anyone else to say it, but Delta was different.

There was something off about him, like he exuded an aura of strength that anyone could sense to some degree, offset only by the fact that he really didn't look the part at all. He was an enigma. Robin hadn't dealt with many human enigmas in her life. Pirates never were.

Delta was something new.

Don Krieg's ship was closer now, close enough to squint and make out a skull and crossbones.

The enigma dropped into a fighting stance, knees bent, hands clenched at his torso. His face bent into a frown.

WHOOSH

She didn't even see him leave. One moment, he was right next to her, the next, he was across the ocean, a tiny dot beside a giant ship.

BOOM

The next moment, half the ship was gone, and a rain of screaming pulsed in her ears, faint and harsh. The back end of the ship, though intact, wasn't faring very well, already sinking at a surprisingly fast rate into the deep blue.

Delta had done this. In three seconds, with only his physical body and the clothes on his back, Delta had done this. Maybe he was the monster he said he was. And if that was true, maybe the rest of his admittedly silly speech was… no. She couldn't, wouldn't get her hopes up like that.

He needed her, that was all. That was what she was to him, a tool. And she refused to believe that she could be anything else.

Delta was undoubtedly the the strongest pirate she'd ever met, but he was still a pirate. A cruel, uncaring pirate. He had to be.

-o0O0o-

Delta stepped onto his ship carrying the broken form of Don Krieg above his back. Once he got settled in, he dropped the purple haired man to the ground with a thud. Krieg didn't even stir.

He may have gone overboard with that punch, Delta thought in hindsight. Surely something of that magnitude would be reported, and in the Easy Blue of all places, it meant trouble. Not to mention the recent video of him in Mango Island.

If nobody else, Garp was gonna' put two and two together very quickly. Delta just crossed his fingers that the old shit was way on the other side of the ocean and he wouldn't have to deal with him for a very long time.

He doubted fate was going to be so kind.

"Terry, would you go find some rope rope below deck," Delta asked. "Krieg won't be down forever, and I don't want him running around on my ship."

"You're a god, aren't you?" Terry asked rhetorically. "A god in physical form. That's the only possible way. Only way that you could- could- I'll go get the rope."

Terry scooped himself off the ground and shuffled down below deck.

"Those clothes he's wearing look valuable," Robin stated. "You may want to undress him before turning him over to the marines."

Delta nodded. "Not a bad idea. No gold suit, though. What a shame." He ignored Robin's quizzical look at the statement. She wouldn't understand.

He kneeled over and removed Krieg's coat and shirt to reveal a very hairy chest. Delta learned something new- Krieg did not die his hair purple. That was au naturale.

Upon closer inspection, It appeared Robin was right; all his clothes looked like they were sewn with silver or something of that kind. Again, what pomp.

Terry emerged from below holding a several yards of rope in his hands. "Found it!"

"Great job, now give it here."

Once he was handed the rope and he bent down to tie Krieg, Delta ran into a problem that he wasn't exactly sure how to solve. That was annoying.

He'd never tied up a person before. He didn't even know where to start.

"Uh, Robin? Can you help me with this?"

"Of course, Captain," she said, but didn't sound like she was getting up.

Suddenly, several of her devil fruit arms sprouted from the deck, moving with a strange to watch perfection of synchronicity. The arm closest to him digested him of the rope, while the one beside that grabbed an end of it.

He liked Robin. He liked her power. It was strong, helpful, and unique. He looked away from the arms surrounding Krieg's body. This was too weird for him.

"Gah!" Terry yelled, falling back onto his bum. "Delta, there're arms everywhere! Living arms, do you see them? Oh god, when did you give me shrooms? This is too cruel, even for you, Nico Robin!"

"Terry, shut up," Delta spoke, missing much of his conviction. "You're not high; this is Robin's devil fruit power. She can create limbs and other pieces of herself anywhere she wants. It's cool."

"It's creepy," Terry said instead. He watched the arms waving around, tying off Krieg for a few moments. "And cool. Yeah, creepy and cool. How does it work?"

"To me," Robin started, "it simply feels like an extension of myself in places one wouldn't naturally understand. Like many devil fruit powers, it took years of practice and effort to fully comprehend, though the results can be quite useful."

"So they all work like regular arms, and you've trained your brain and body long enough to be good at using it," Terry summed up, mostly to himself. "That's impressive."

"Thank you, Terry-san."

Later that day, Krieg woke up. It was immediately apparent to all on board that he'd risen, since it began with indiscriminate yelling, followed by bragging, followed by callous yelling. All in the span of five minutes.

It was at that point that Delta couldn't take it anymore.

He stomped down to Krieg, neatly tied and thrown below deck, and told the man to shut up.

"Let me go this instant!" Krieg yelled. "Do you know who I am! I am Don Krieg, captain of the-"

"No, stop now," Delta said. "I do know who you are, your speech is unnecessary. Actually, it's why I caught you in the first place. We're gonna' go cash in your bounty. It's gonna be great." He paused. "Not for you, obviously, but… eh."

"You can't do that!" He looked to be telling that more to himself than Delta. "I am Don Krieg, highest bounty in East Blue! You- you Mango Island upstart couldn't defeat me! It's impossible!"

"Let's not call me "Mango Island upstart" again, thank you. I really didn't like that place, much to snobby for me. Come to think of it, I feel like you'd've fit in perfectly. Well now you won't, cause you'll be in jail, but… again, eh."

Krieg starts back up with his indiscriminate yelling. Delta kicked him in the face. He'd be out for another couple hours with that. Hopefully, that was long enough to reach an island with some good marine presence.

Hopefully.

He stepped back out onto the deck. The sun had begun to set, which was pretty. At the same time, he really wanted to get to an island as soon as possible, which the nighttime sometimes hindered.

"Robin, how close to an island are we?"

She was looking down at a map of East Blue. Of course she was the type of person to just have something like that on hand. Very useful.

"On hour, maybe two, depending on the wind," she said.

"Okay, that's good. Will we be there before dark?"

"Possibly, though I have no control over that."

-o0O0o-

It was still technically light outside when they reached the island. And Delta didn't know much about the trade, but he had learned that marines stopped taking in bounty trades after nightfall for some semantic reason or another. To him, reasoning didn't matter so long as he arrived before that point.

"Alright, so Terry, I'll hold you in one arm and Krieg in the other, and then I'll run really fast to the marine base, okay? Then you grab Krieg and bring him inside, cause I'm on video and obviously can't, you get the bounty, and boom- done."

Terry nodded. "Okay, I like this plan, minus the you grab me and run thing. Can we skip that part?"

"'No time," Delta said. "Sun's almost set and you're not fast enough to arrive before that."

Terry still looked less than enthused.

"Look, fine. How about you get on my back and I'll take you like that? It's more dignified at least."

Probably realizing it was that best possible option he had on his horizon, Terry mutely nodded again.

Delta grinned. "Awesome." He gripped Krieg's naked chest and heaved him into the crevice of his arm, then leaned forward slightly for Terry to scoot on.

"Come on, Terry. I don't have all day."

"Look, I really don't want to~oh! No! No! I don't like that at all! No!"

Delta didn't see, but all of a sudden, Terry's weight had been dropped on his back. That was cue to go, so off he went.

Thirty seconds later, Delta had located and stopped right outside a marine base. And he'd only had to deal with Terry screaming for twenty of those seconds. He dropped Krieg. Terry fell off.

"You could never understand how much I didn't like that."

Delta grinned, thinking back to his past crew and their reluctance to travel in his grasp. "You'd be surprised. Tell me, what was it that got you on my back in the first place? I missed it."

Terry sat up. "Oh, that. That was Nico Robin, the devil. She used her power on me! She lifted me off the ground with her crazy arms and tossed me onto you! Cruel and unusual, I'll say it again!"

Delta laughed. Harder than was absolutely necessary, but picturing it was pretty damn funny.

"Stop laughing!" Terry shouted.

"Just grab Krieg and get him in there," Delta said. "I'll wait here."

With only minimum grumbling, Terry tugged Krieg by the ropes across the ground and into the doors, where he disappeared from sight.

And Delta was left alone, watching the barely there sun and its last vestiges of orange purple light splay out over the sea.

In a way, he wanted to be like the Sun. Metaphorically. Cause the Sun was so huge and powerful, not-even-metaphorically making the world go round, and that was sort of like him on a smaller scale. He was bright and noticeable and strong.

But the Sun didn't care. The Sun, massive and powerful as it was, kept its distance from the petty issues of the Blue Sea. It never got angry or sad, wild of uncontrollable. The Sun was consistent, calm in its power.

Yes, he wanted to be like the Sun. Life could be so much easier if he was the Sun. The powerful emotions that had always tethered him, defined him in life, were starting to get old. It was difficult to deal with them. And if he could destroy an entire island without thinking about it in a temper tantrum, that was definitely something to think about.

He refused to become Big Mom, or anything even remotely similar.

Terry stepped outside. Delta left the shadows.

"I got it," Terry said, pointing to a satchel on his shoulders. "Should keep us set for a little while."

"Good."

"So if there's nothing left to do here, let's get back to the ship. I'm tired."

"Sounds fine."

"I'm not getting on your back this time."

"Fair."

They walked side by side in silence. Delta was enjoying the silence more and more recently.

"Do you think Nico Robin left with the ship?" Terry asked. Even as he said it, Delta didn't believe the mustachio actually believed it happened.

"I trust Robin," Delta said. "You should too."

"I know you do, I know. Question is, does she trust you?"

Delta sighed. "That is the question, isn't it."

"Look, I can tell that for whatever reason, you really want Nico Robin to like you. Don't ask me why, but you do. And the way I see it, you're going about it in completely the wrong way."

Delta raised an eyebrow. "And how's that?"

"You're trying too hard. You talk about trust, and Robin and belief, all the time. Frankly, it's weird. If you really do want to help Robin, remember that actions speak louder than words. The way you act now sounds like you're trying to force this belief onto her."

Terry shook his head. "It won't work like that. She's just a kid, won't see the intricacies that you honestly believe what you're saying. You gotta' show her."

"Robin's just a kid? And just how old are you, exactly?"

"Not the point of my speech, and you know it."

Delta nodded. "You're right. Actions speak louder."

Terry patted his back kindly. "Don't worry, Delta. Give it enough time, if she's as good as you say, Nico Robin's gonna come around."

"I hope so."

Had he used manipulation again? Maybe, yes. But if Robin was gonna' eavesdrop on their private conversation with her powers, it was only fair to notice and use it against her.

A few steps back in the shadows of the grass, a singular ear silently fell into a burst of petals.

He wanted to be like the Sun. Maybe then, all this trust nonsense would matter less. The Sun was carefree. It had control.

-o0O0o-

 **Did you like the short Robin POV? Did it mess up the flow? I wasn't sure. Let me know so I can never do it again if it's bad. Also, review and favorite and follow and whatnot. Gives me the warm fuzzies.**


	13. Forgotten Friends

**Kind of an in between chapter, but I'm a fan.**

Chapter 13

Delta was bored. The Red Line, or at least the part that lead directly to the New World, was very far away. Since it was the East Blue, with calm waters and little to no violent opposition, they were moving right along at a pretty fast speed, but even still, it would be another few weeks before they ever reached that enormous piece of land.

And life was so monotonous on board their little vessel. Wake up, eat, sleep, day in and day out, only ever stopping when running short on supplies or the money was starting to run out.

He grinned at the thought. Those were the times when life was most exciting- when he, Terry, and Robin all had to work together to find and incapacitate some petty criminal with a bounty to their liking.

The way Delta ate, the periods between money searching were never long. But what was finally starting to catch up to them, something Delta hadn't even considered, was the simple fact that in East Blue, there really weren't all that many notorious criminals with (relatively) high bounties.

Or at least, they were getting harder to find on the drop of a hat.

It was a tedious life, not one particularly suited for the likes of Delta. He needed more adventure, more intrigue than this. He needed something to do.

He was lying on the ground behind the helm, staring blankly at a vague, bland map of the Blue Seas- nothing that even came close to Nami's version, when it hit him.

Delta's eyes widened, and he sat up suddenly. Adventure was so close, how hadn't he seen it before? They were practically right next to it.

-o0O0o-

"Robin, I have a question." Delta's voice sounded out behind her.

She turned around. He was sitting up, intently looking at her map of the Seas. He seemed almost excited. It was odd. The last time she'd seen her captain anything like this was when they'd first met. Since then, his spark of joy had felt more like a fizzle than the fireworks display on Mango Island. It made her strangely happy for him.

"Yes, Captain?" she asked. "What is it?"

"Do you know where the nearest large military base is?"

She had not been expecting that. They didn't have bounties to turn in on board, did they? No, she would have noticed. Robin regularly inspected the place, top to bottom, unbeknownst to Delta or Terry. Not that she didn't trust them, she did to a point, but old habits and old paranoia die hard.

"Not off the top of my head," Robin said, smiling. "If I may ask, why?"

"We're going on an adventure."

"Ah. But are we not already sailing for the Sea Sea Fruit? Has there been a change of plans?"

Delta shook his head. "No, no, that's still what I've decided to do, but adventures need more than just a destination and getting there. They need sidetracks and things to happen; interesting, unusual things."

Robin couldn't deny that though peaceful, these past few weeks had been… dull, to say the least. The most interesting part of it all so far was Delta himself, enigma that he was. The enigma she still couldn't crack.

"I see," Robin said. "And you plan to make our trip more… adventurous."

Delta nodded emphatically. "So we gotta' find an island and see what they know. We gotta' go information hunting."

"Alright."

"But what should our information hunting team name be called?" Delta asked aloud, holding a hand to his chin.

Robin didn't ask. He had a habit of saying things she didn't understand. Some were interesting and deserved more looking into, and some were… well, things like that.

"Info Hunters? No, that's way too obvious. There have to be like a billion of those in the world. The Searchers? But then how would anyone know what we were searching? Lowdown hoedown? Um, ignore that. Coop the Scoop? Knowledge Thirst? Uh.."

For whatever reason, Delta kept on like that, forming increasingly obscure and irrelevant titles for an imaginary organization, all while she sailed onward, hoping to find an island soon. Maybe that would get him interested enough to stop…

Where was Terry to deal with this? Normally, the mustache man was enough to keep Delta's attention, but he was nowhere to be found.

She sighed. Right. He was forced below deck by Delta, a temporary punishment brought on when at the last island they stopped, he ordered a drink at some bar.

That drink turned into two, into three, and well, Robin wa there. The results were not pretty, night ending with Delta pulling Terry by his collar onto the ship while the drunkard shouted obscenities. Not even good obscenities, just whatever came to his mind. Needless to say, Delta was justifiably upset.

But at this moment, Robin really wished the timeout would end already. How such a stupid person could get so powerful was beyond her.

At the same time, the stupidity was at times slightly adorable, not that she would admit it. Ever. And even though Delta was older than her, he at times felt like a stupid kid brother with an alarmingly chiseled face. She didn't know how to feel about the Caption, and that was hard to deal with.

"...Information Gathering Council? Too long. Needs to role off the tongue. Organization for the Search of Finding? Wait, that's even longer…"

And other times, his stupidity really was just stupid.

-o0O0o-

Delta unbolted the door to Terry's quote on quote "prison cell."

It was for his own good. The only drunkard pirate captains Delta had ever met were complete and utter garbage, the crew of Rock Lee the pirate, or Blackbeard.

So in the case of the latter, even less than utter garbage. Hm, maybe that was why Delta hated Terry's drinking so much. But he hadn't thought even a smidge about Teach for… had to be years, at least. Maybe it was subconscious?

Oh god, Blackbeard was alive again. Now that was a hard pill to swallow. He hadn't thought about it, but… damn it.

He shook his head a little. No time to think about that at the moment. He rapped the door a couple times before opening it.

"Terry, your punishment is over. Come on out, we're on an island."

"We need money again?" Terry asked from somewhere. No sign of movement. "Our last stop was when I, you know, right? And it hasn't been…" Silence descended upon the lower deck. "How long has it been? Is this a relativity thing? Has it been years for you and days for me? Shit, shit, shit, what year is it?" He yelled that last part, and the sound of scrambling and bumping boxes echoed through.

Terry burst out of the shade, head and facial hair worn and disheveled, looking like he was about to have a heart attack. His eyes took in Delta's form. His breathing evened out. "Okay, you look not old. That's- that's good. Phew." A exhaled a harsh laugh. "Don't scare me like that again, Delty. Please."

Delty?

"We're at an island. Come on." Delta turned on his heel, disliking the thought of stepping into whatever rabbit hole Terry had found himself in.

"Right, right, yeah. Island. Love those."

Delta jumped off the side of the ship with a woop, handily sticking the landing. Robin and Terry walked off the boarding ramp like normal, boring, people.

Delta looked around at the dock. Town looked quiet enough- marine presence was small enough that they could dock right in front without a care in the world.

And besides them and a few other fishing and merchant ships, the dock was mostly empty, except for…

"I've seen that ship," Delta muttered. "Don'know where or how, but I have." That was happening more and more often- vague familiarities that were barely there on the tip of his tongue, but similarly so far away. With time progressing as it was, he figured it was going to get more common.

"Hm, Delty? What'd you say?" Terry asked, sidling up beside him.

"Oh, nothing really. Just thinking."

"About what, Captain?" Robin asked, coming up on the other side.

"What is this, an interrogation?" Delta said, suddenly annoyed.

"Hey, calm down. No need to be testy." Terry pointed at the ship. "Looked like you were staring at that boat over there. Mean something to you?"

"No, nothing."

Terry's eyes narrowed slightly, and he turned to get a better view of the vessel. "Thing looks a little dumpy to me. Hasn't been cleaned for ages." He looked over at Robin. "You'd think that the ocean would do the cleaning for you, being water and all, but no. Without proper care, a ship could easily turn into… well, that." He pointed back at the ship.

Robin smiled. "Thank you for the information, Terry-san."

"Yeah, no problem."

"Pot calling the kettle black, I think," Delta interjected.

Terry frowned. "What, no. No." He took in the sight of their ship. His lips pursed. "No. No." His head hung. "We're terrible pirates."

"Correction," Delta said. "You're a terrible pirate."

"What! Why only me?" He pointed an accusing finger. "You and Nico Robin are on the ship as often!"

Delta shook his head. "Not the same. Robin and I already have responsibilities. I, being captain, need to do my captain duties, and Robin, being navigator, needs to navigate."

Terry's mouth dropped. "But- but- but you barely do anything! We don't need a captain when there's only three people!"

"Every ship needs a captain. And I'm always captain of my ships."

Terry's outrage was not quelled. "Are you seriously saying I do nothing? I can't believe this! I cook!"

He had a point. Terry did cook. Delta pursed his lips. "Huh."

"He got you, Captain," Robin said, smiling. And it was real. He loved the real ones.

"Yeah, I know." Delta sighed. "Gotta' admit, I did put up a good fight."

"That you did."

Terry's eyes were wide. His arm lifted to his head, fingers curling into his locks. "Where am I? What is happening? When did you all go to Crazy Town? Gah!" He started walking away, towards the point of contention, the ship.

"Should we go get him, apologize maybe?"

"I have nothing to apologize for," Robin said.

"Silence is compliance, Robin. You know that. Which makes you an accomplice."

She was quiet. "Now it seems you've gotten me."

Terry continued storming down the dock, not slowing down his stomping in the slightest.

And then five people in brightly colored outfits stormed out from behind some building, grabbed him, and threw him onto the beat up ship that was still seated at the top of his tonsils.

The five people then climbed on board and ducked down below the ships risking, out of sight. A few seconds later, Terry was thrown back off the ship and onto the dock, tied up in a neat little bow. Like an old timey woman on the train tracks.

The five people jumped back off the ship and surrounded Terry, then looked at Delta and Robin. Even far away, he could make out that they had all grinned maniacally.

Bright outfits, the ship, even worn, looked to have remnants of a bright purple and orange… so familiar.

"That was unexpected," Delta said.

"Completely."

"Should we go beat them up?"

"Obviously, but…" Robin trailed off.

Delta snickered, hiding his smile with a hand. "It's pretty funny, right?"

Robin couldn't hold off a faint grin at Terry's state. They had to have bound his mouth- it was the only way he would stay so quiet about this.

"And besides the tying up, it doesn't look like they're really hurting him," Delta reasoned. "If we went to search out some info, he'd forgive us, right?"

"So cruel, Captain."

He put his hands on his side. "Yeah, you're right. Let's go get him. Hey, these guys are probably known criminals, maybe they know where the nearest military base is!"

"Genius."

Delta and Robin started walking toward the men and Terry. "It looks like they have a theme," he said under further inspection."It seems almost like… no way."

Out from the spot where the five men had first popped, came that unforgettable mug. The captain. Light teal pants, red striped shirt, orange hat, orange cloak, and last but not least, a big… red… nose… it could only be-

He stopped in between them and Terry, arms hidden within the draping cape. "It is too late to run, weaklings. All you can do now is tremble before me, the feared… Buggy the Clown!"

No way. So familiar. But bright had been the wrong word. He meant to say flashy.

Buggy grinned, ruby red lips shining in the sunlight. "I see you've heard of me, little one," he boasted. "I can tell by that look in your eye. That look of fear!"

And that was enough to break Delta from his reverie. "Little one? I think we're like, very similar ages."

"Bah!" Buggy waved his hand dismissively. "Keep quiet, little runt, or we'll kill your friend!"

Delta paused. Threatening crew mates, even if it was Terry, was never okay. Buggy was on thin ice. Again.

The perpetual clown completely misinterpreted Delta's action. "Yes, you don't want him to be hurt, do you?" Buggy laughed. It sounded awful. "Maybe I can propose a trade…"

"Why trade?" Robin asked. "None of your goons are very close to our crew member. With how out of shape you all look, I believe that I could get to him before any of you."

The guys behind Buggy glared daggers at her, mean scowls plastered on their faces. Buggy's face looked even worse. He seemed just about ready to blow a gasket.

"You dare insult the feared Buggy Pirates? We are feared throughout the seas, woman! I have a five million beri bounty!"

What was with weak pirates and flaunting their bounties to the world? It was a little sad.

He growled, shaking in rage. Robin watched on passively.

And suddenly, Buggy's entire countenance changed. His grin was malicious, eyes gleaming with superiority once more. "Boys, go back to the ship. You're not needed."

Robin raised an eyebrow. Right, she didn't know Buggy. This was a first time meet and greet for those two.

Still glaring, the five followed orders and got back on board. From there, they continued to watch how it would go down.

"You are mistaken, woman. You believe that I've kept my distance, that death does is not mere centimeters away from your friend. Ha! Wrong!"

He leaned to the side and gripped the orange cope, wildly throwing it to the side. "Flashy reveal!" His arms were pointed forward. One hand was there, and the other was not. Instead of a hand was a flat piece of skin on his wrist.

Robin raised an eyebrow.

Buggy's grin stayed strong. "You do not yet understand the danger you've fallen into, I see. Well beware, for I, Buggy the Clown, have eaten the Chop Chop Fruit! With it, I can remove and reposition any and every part of me with ease!"

His crew was cheering. "You may believe I'm missing a hand, but that is wrong! So, so, wrong, you fools! No, my hand, holding a knife, has been simply detached from my arm and now resides right by your friends neck! He is moments from death!"

Delta rolled his eyes. Robin looked vaguely confused by Buggy's actions. He still hadn't even revealed why he'd done this in the first place. And frankly, the answer was probably to exchange him for beri but Delta didn't really care at the moment. Buggy was becoming obnoxious.

So he moved.

"You mean this hand?" Delta asked from behind Buggy, grasping the wildly flapping hand in his fingers. The knife lay abandoned on the ground. Terry looked extremely pissed.

Of course he meant that hand. Delta didn't even wait for Buggy to realize what had happened and turn around- he snapped up beside the clown and kicked him in the gut.

Buggy smashed through a stone wall. Oops. Delta did not mean to kick that hard. He dropped the now limp hand and started to untie Terry.

Whatever. Not like the kick killed him or anything.

It took longer than he wanted to admit to get Terry's bondage undone; whatever their faults, those five goons were quite the talented knotters.

Speaking of the goons, when he turned around, all of them were frozen in place on board the ship, Robin's arms covering each of them, holding them taut.

Each and every one had real fear in their eyes, along with a hint of disbelief. Yes, Delta handed it to himself, they were a bit above any level these people had ever seen in their lives. For all they knew, Buggy's devil fruit may as well have been the strongest one of all.

Delta cracked his knuckles and smirked. The men collectively shuddered. "So, I'm looking for a big military base. Something big enough for a large prison. Got any ideas where I could find a place like this?"

The men were silent, frozen in terror.

Delta slowly straightened his shoulders, eyes darkening. "Well?"

And that was all the interrogation they needed.

-o0O0o-

The island trip had been a glowing success, all things considered. They couldn't have been on the island for more than twenty minutes, they hadn't needed to suspiciously ask random people in the streets, and Robin had learned a little more about her oddball captain.

He could be scary if necessary.

Still, looking at him splayed limply on the deck beside Terry, it was hard to equate him to anything other than silly. In a good way.

The nearest large marine base, or the nearest one those goond could accurately direct to, was closer than she'd expected, a day away, max. As to why she was sailing toward a marine base, disregarding every single one of her survivalist instincts, she didn't know. Delta was playing his cards very close to his chest. Robin just hoped he at least had cards to hold. If they walked into a marine base without any plan whatsoever, she was not going to forgive him. Even if she really enjoyed his presence.

"You could have been faster, y'know," Terry said down below as he stared up at the slowly darkening sky.

"You already told me," Delta responded. "And I already said I was sorry."

"Doesn't automatically make it alright, though. Sorry's can't always fix mistakes."

"Hmph." A lopsided smirk crawled onto Delta's face. "Ain't that the truth."

"Stop trying to sound like an old wise man. It doesn't work."

"I'll hit you."

Terry pulled himself into a sitting position. Twisting around, he called to Robin, "Hey Nick-o Roe-bane, come on down! You can lay on the deck too! It'll be a fucking party!"

That… sounded more tempting than she wanted to admit. Side note: there was something odd about this ship and the number of admissions she wanted hidden away.

Delta yawned. "Down be dumb, Terry. Robin doesn't do stuff like that. She's too cultured and stuff."

"You ever asked?" Terry asked.

Delta was quiet for a moment, as if thinking hard about that question. Robin so desired to know what was happening within his mind. Finally, he answered. "I- I think so. Pretty sure."

Terry was dismissive. "Well I haven't heard it, so. Anyway, Roe-bane, whaddaya say? Feel like busting a groove on the ground?" He twisted his shoulders a bit for emphasis.

"Sure."

She said sure. Why has she done that? It was so unlike her. The wind was calm, though, so it'd be fine. Against any rational thought, Robin felt herself stand up and walk down to the main deck. She awkwardly stopped in front of the two boys. What was she supposed to do now?

Terry recognized her struggle. "You just gotta' lay down. Not hard, really. Doesn't really matter where you go, but I'd suggest keeping your untouchables away from Captain Delty. He's a bit of a perv, you see."

Robin smiled while Delta yelled out in defense. Slowly, she lowered herself onto the ground beside them. The wood was warmer than she was expecting, and coupled with the heat of the setting sun, it really wasn't all that bad.

The sky was beautiful. She couldn't remember the last time she'd enjoyed it like this. Maybe it never happened.

"I told you she'd participate," Terry said with an air of superiority. "Only have to ask."

"Mm."

Robin didn't know what to do with her arms as they laid limply at her sides. She didn't really care.

-o0O0o-

 **Be prepared for next chapter. It's gonna' be fun.**


End file.
